Cyber security was big news in 2016. From the hacking of the Democratic National Committee during the US elections, the Dyn attack in October 2016 and mass data thefts from huge organisations like Yahoo, Talk Talk and Tesco Bank, the threat of cyber attacks on business have never been greater.
Cyber Security: A Growing Concern For SMBs in 2017
In a recent survey of our clients, we found that IT security was growing area for concern for many small and medium sized businesses. However, only 52% said that they had reviewed their IT security systems in the past year. More and more businesses are becoming aware of the dangers and the need to protect their networks, but many don’t know how. Even businesses who have significant IT security infrastructure in place often still have the “niggly feeling” that they are not doing enough to protect themselves from a cyber attack or fraud.
Understanding the Scale of Cyber Crime
Dragon IS’s MD Lionel Naidoo outlines the common concerns small businesses are facing when it comes to their cybersecurity: “What’s driving our customers are the blatant security risks that are out there, they are aware that it’s a big bad world. It’s no longer the situation that people are ignorant of threats like they used to be 5 or 10 years ago. Businesses do understand the scale of cyber crime now. It’s about people saying to us, they know that they have an issue, they know that they need to do something but they don’t know what it is they need to do.”
Staying one step ahead of cyber criminals is not easy as they are constantly finding sophisticated new ways to trick businesses and steal their valuable data. As well as viruses, malware, phishing scams and ransomware, a recent report by McAfee identified emerging cyber threats targeting mobile, cloud based services and IOT internet enabled devices as being the big target of hackers in 2017.
Want To Know More?
After such a tumultuous year, businesses large and small are now putting Cyber security at the forefront of business planning. If you’d like to get a better understanding your digital landscape, pinpoint your cyber security strengths and areas where you may be vulnerable to attack speak to one of our IT professionals today.
