We often discuss the growing threat of cybersecurity breaches among businesses of all sizes and industries and underscore how important it is to properly protect your company's network and data.
Still, despite the prevalence of cyber security threats, and the fact that a significant breach or loss of data can result in thousands of dollars in fallout, many companies are quite lax when it comes to protecting their businesses. At least, that is what a recent survey by Paycheck uncovered.
A false sense of security
One of the most alarming findings of the recent survey was that 27 percent of business owners admitted that their companies do not use any sort of data security software. Of the others that responded to the study, 48 percent used on-premises software, 11 percent used Cloud-based software and 14 percent used a combination of both.
Even though the 27-percent figure might be alarming, it didn't seem to register with many of the business owners that were included in the survey. A stunning 81 percent of the respondents felt very confident that they were doing everything they could to protect business and customer data and 84 percent were confident that they could recover lost data if needed.
Sadly, business owners can feel confident about their ability to sustain business continuity in the event of an IT emergency, but they can find out the hard way that they are unable to.
Many businesses are taking some steps to protect themselves
On a brighter note, 60 or more percent of the respondents in the survey said that their:
- Employees recognize the importance of data security (81 percent)
- Data security approach is often reviewed to ensure they are following best practices (72 percent)
- Company has a clear data security policy (70 percent)
- Company trains all employees on data security (60 percent)
The stats underscore the fact that more and more businesses are cognizant of cyber security, but the pressure is still on for them to be more diligent and continually adjust their strategy as needed.
Small businesses are still falling behind
One final stat that illustrated the struggles of adopting strong cyber security as a small business showed that large corporations were a lot more likely to provide their teams with training compared to smaller businesses.
Of businesses with 100 to 500 employees, 89 percent said that they do train employees on data security. That number was just 59 percent for companies with one to 19 employees.
Many small businesses either don't have the resources to provide comprehensive cyber security measures, or they don't think they'll ever be targeted. It's important that small businesses treat this as the business-saving investment that it truly is.
