09.11 22:29

The biggest threat to a small business will come through its computers

By Patrick Godfrey

 

I was shocked when I learned that small businesses are more at risk from cyberattacks than they are from all other forms of loss. Combined.

Fire, flood, armed robbery, locusts, rogue mimes, Jay Leno…each of them is odious, but even in the aggregate they represent less risk than the losses that can result from inadequately protected systems.

We’ve all heard the horror stories about Sony, Google, Citibank and a host of others. The bad news makes headlines, trashes reputations and terminates longstanding relationships between people and corporations. Last year the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. was a jaw-dropping $7.2 million. It’s clear to everyone that you don’t want to be the guy doing the deep bow on camera as an act of contrition.

But you don’t really hear about it happening to small business. Yet it does, all the time. Fully 98 percent of companies in the U.S. are small businesses, and they employ more than half of all of private sector employees. Yet small businesses only represent 33 percent of IT spending. Far too often, this results in a huge neon “OPEN” sign hanging on their systems and information (apologies to the creative team I stole that idea from).

This shouldn’t surprise me, as we’ve been working with Symantec for more than seven years. And as a small business owner (OK, part owner), it’s the kind of thing you’d think I know. But in not knowing, I am a very typical small businessperson.

It’s the rare small business that doesn’t lock its doors or have multiple insurance policies. Yet more than 85 percent of small business owners believe their companies are less of a target for cybercrime than large companies. And over half don’t even back up their data.

The weirdest part is how easy it is to get protected.

It’s a bit like not going to the dentist. You can choose to avoid it, but you’re probably going to end up paying in the end.

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