New Research Shows Cyberattacks on SMBs Are Increasing Globally

A new survey from Keeper Security reports 66% of SMBs globally experienced a cyberattack within the past 12 months, 76% in the U.S

For the third consecutive year, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have reported a significant increase in targeted cybersecurity breaches. A newly released global survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute, a world-renowned independent research organization, found that attacks against U.S., U.K. and European businesses are growing in both frequency and sophistication. Further, nearly half (45%) of the 2,000 respondents described their organization’s IT posture as ineffective, with 39% reporting they have no incident response plan in place.

The 2019 Global State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses report underscores growing cybersecurity concerns best illustrated through the year-over-year trends dating back to 2016. The survey, commissioned by Keeper Security, measured responses from 2,391 IT and IT security practitioners in the U.S., U.K., DACH, Benelux, and Scandinavian.

“More businesses are experiencing highly-targeted, sophisticated and severe cyberattacks than ever before, yet the results of our study show they aren’t doing enough to close the gap,” said Darren Guccione, CEO, and co-founder of Keeper Security. “We sponsor this annual research with Ponemon because we want SMBs to understand that no target is too small for cybercriminals and it’s not enough to simply be aware of the cyberthreats that exist. It’s absolutely critical that these businesses take the next step toward cybersecurity preparedness and get a strong prevention strategy in place.”

Darren Guccione, CEO and Co-Founder of Keeper Security

Significant 2019 Findings:

• Overall, attacks are increasing dramatically – 76% of U.S. companies were attacked within the last 12 months, up from 55% in 2016. Globally, 66% of respondents reported attacks in the same timeframe.
• Attacks that rely on deception are rising – Overall, attacks are becoming more sophisticated, with phishing (57%), compromised or stolen devices (33%) and credential theft (30%) among the most common attacks waged against SMBs globally.
• Data loss among the most common impact – Globally, 63% of businesses reported an incident involving the loss of sensitive information about customers and employees in the past year. That number is 69% in the U.S.– an increase from 50% in 2016.

Some U.S. Highlights Include:

• 82% of U.S. respondents reported experiencing a cyberattack in their organization’s lifetime, which is higher than any other region
• U.S. businesses are more confident in their in-house security expertise than any other region
• Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of U.S. respondents indicated they spend less than 20% of their overall IT budget on security
• U.S. businesses are nearly twice as likely to be the victim of a cyberattack due to a company insider (77%) versus an external hacker (40%)

“Cybercriminals are continuing to evolve their attacks with more sophisticated tactics, and companies of all sizes are in their crosshairs,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder, The Ponemon Institute. “The 2019 Global State of Cybersecurity in SMBs” report demonstrates cyberattacks are a global phenomenon- and so is the lack of awareness and preparedness by businesses globally. Every organization, no matter where they are, no matter their size, must make cybersecurity a top priority.”

Source:  Keeper Security