According to the PwC Global Economic Crime Survey 2016, British small and medium-sized businesses are more susceptible to cybercrime than ever before. The survey found an 11% increase in cybercrime against UK businesses, with 55% of organisations having been targeted within the last year.

This paints a sobering picture of the future landscape of our economy. With more small businesses being launched and more entrepreneurs going it alone, the potential for risk is high.

There are three main cybercrime challenges facing SMBs:

1.Lack of resources

2.Lack of skills and knowledge

3.Increase sophistication of attacks

Lack of resources

The average new or growing business tends to put all their energy, money and resources into developing products and services or gaining customers. Often there is little left to protect what it already has. This is understandable as pressure is there to grow, expand and become competitive as quickly as possible.

While this leaves obvious holes in capability, it is a natural desire in all new businesses to focus on growth and market presence. It is what cyber criminals count on.

Lack of skills and knowledge

The average SMB is kept lean out of necessity, tending to focus only on roles that can drive it towards growth and sustainability. While many CTOs and business owners acknowledge the need for security, it is usually secondary to the primary goal of the business in those early days.

Most cyber-attacks depend on some kind of human interaction to work. A click of an infected link or a weak or repeated password. Half an eye should always be on protecting what you have worked so hard to build.

Increased sophistication of attacks

Cyber-attacks used to be mainly in the form of viruses or malware. Now they come in a variety of forms from almost every digital medium. It isn’t enough to have a firewall and antivirus and think that’s enough. Cyber security now has to encompass everything from psychology to communications protocols and everything in-between.

Zero day attacks, emerging threats and current cybercrime trends need study, research and a lot of work to stay current with. Not something the average entrepreneur has the time or energy to do.

The way forward

Despite the increase in volume and complexity of cybercrime, the answer is simple. Outsource your digital security. Many SMBs are fine with embracing the cloud and using SaaS to deliver productivity solutions, but few seem aware that many respected providers also provide security functions in exactly the same way.

If your business doesn’t have the resources to adequately protect itself, work with a partner that does.

Everything from security audits and network monitoring to security software and training can be provided from an external partner. A partner with the skills, training and reputation to protect what’s yours. If your business has neither the time or skills to dedicate to protecting what you have built, perhaps you should work with someone that does.

Contact Excalibur today, we can help keep you secure.

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