Small businesses are underestimating the impact a cyber attack would have on their reputation and must take steps to protect themselves.
The warnings come as a result of research published according to the findings of the Small Business Reputation and the Cyber Risk report, by the Government’s Cyber Streetwise campaign and KPMG.
Less than a quarter of small businesses cite cyber security as a top concern, but it’s of vital importance to consumers and within the supply chain.
The impact of a cyber attackbreach can be huge and long lasting, affecting brand, client retention and ability to win new business.
In the past few years there has been a rapid expansion in the development and adoption of new communications technologies which continue to transform Government, business and the ways in which we interact with each other. Cyber crime undermines confidence in our communications technology and online economy.
There were an estimated 5.1 million incidents of fraud and 2.5 million incidents falling under the Computer Misuse Act recorded last year (ONS, 2015). Add in recent high profile hacking cases and the issue of cyber security is now more important than ever.
Cyber Streetwise and KPMG surveyed 1,000 small businesses and 1,000 consumers across the UK to assess how small businesses feel about cyber security, how they are protecting themselves and the impact of a cyber breach on their reputation.
Key cyber security research findings:
- Cyber security was cited as one of the top concerns by less than a quarter of small businesses (23%), yet it is fast becoming the only way to do business:
- 83% of consumers surveyed are concerned about which businesses have access to their data and 58% said that a breach would discourage them from using a business in the future.
Recently published KPMG Supply Chain research supports this; 94% of procurement managers say that cyber security standards are important when awarding a project to an SME supplier and 86% would consider removing a supplier from their roster due to a breach.
UK small businesses value their reputation as one of their key assets. Yet they are hugely underestimating the likelihood of a cyber breach happening to them and its long term impact:
60% of small businesses surveyed have experienced a cyber breach, but only 29% of those who haven’t experienced a breach cited potential reputational damage as an ‘important’ consideration.
The impact of a cyber breach can be huge and long lasting. 89% of the small businesses surveyed who have experienced a breach said it impacted on their reputation. Those who experienced a breach said the attack led to:
Brand damage (31%)
Loss of clients (30%)
Ability to win new business (29%)
Quality of service is also a risk. Those surveyed who experienced a cyber breach found it caused customer delays (26%) and impacted the business’ ability to operate (93%).
The full report was published at: https://home.kpmg.com/uk/en/home/insights/2016/02/small-business-reputation-and-the-cyber-risk.html