Top Reasons SMB Security Still Sags

Most channel partners tasked with securing small businesses likely will not be surprised by the latest Zogby poll co-sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec in honor of October’s designation as National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The results confirmed plenty of solution provider’s anecdotal conclusions that the SMB is

False Sense of Security

The typical small business excuse for lax security is that they aren’t a target for attackers. But 65 percent of those surveyed store customer data on their infrastructure, 43 percent store financial records, 33 percent store credit card information and 20 percent have intellectual property and other sensitive corporate content online.

Lax on the Web

Most businesses-65 percent-say the Internet is critical to their business success. But just 28 percent of those surveyed have set formal Internet policies for their employees. And more than 86 percent of them do not have an employee solely focused on IT security.

Passwords, Who Needs ‘Em?

Approximately 62 percent of respondents use wireless networks, but a full quarter of them do not even password-protect these networks.

Training Dearth

Only 35 percent of companies provide any training to employees about Internet safety and security. Of those that do, 63 percent provide fewer than five hours of training per year.

No Due Diligence

More than 90 percent of those surveyed report that they are safe from malware and viruses based on their current security practices. But only 53 percent check their computers on a weekly basis to make sure anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls and operating systems are up to date. Another 11 percent never check them at all

Customer Data

Approximately 75 percent of small businesses say they use the Internet to communicate with customers. But only 6 percent fear the loss of customer data. And fewer than half think their customers are concerned about the IT security of their business.

Nice, Not Necessary

And just over 20 percent of SMBs still believe that cybersecurity is just “a nice thing to have.”