Top-tier SMBs, in terms of IT best-practices, bring business benefits, but more importantly, these organizations are more secure than their less IT savvy counterparts.
For its Global SMB Survey: IT Confidence Index, which was released today, ReRez, on behalf of Symantec, surveyed nearly 2,500 SMBs in 20 countries to understand how confident these businesses are in using technology to address business goals. “The fundamental takeaway is that SMBs that more confidently engage in IT have better business outcomes,” Anne O’Neill, senior director of marketing at Symantec, told IFSEC Global in an interview.
These top-tier SMBs are marked by a willingness to invest in high-quality IT infrastructure to address scalability for growth, efficiency, and productivity because they see IT as strategic, O’Neill said.
Interestingly, these same attitudes translated into greater IT security, as well. According to the survey, SMBs rated security, disaster preparedness, and data protection as the most significant computing issues. At the same time, greater security levels are one of the key hallmarks of an SMB IT leader.
In fact, 78 percent of top-tier SMBs rated themselves as more secure, compared to only 39 percent of bottom-tier SMBs. Interestingly, 78 percent of SMBs in the US rated themselves as more secure, compared to only 68 percent in the United Kingdom. Whether in the US or UK, though, this self-assessment was born out in real-world results.
In fact, top-tier SMBs reported 51 percent lower annual loss from cyberattacks than the less IT-savvy organizations. That may translate into huge savings for organizations that manage to avoid a breach related to an attack. The Ponemon Institute, for example, puts the average cost of a breach at $136 per record in 2012, compared to $130 per record for 2011. Check out Symantec’s Data Breach Risk Calculator (which takes into account the organization’s size, industry, location, and security practices) to understand the risk of your particular organization.
For SMBs, this focus on security excellence will be increasingly important as these smaller organizations are in the cybercrime crosshairs. Symantec’s 2013 Internet Security Threat Report, for example, found that 31 percent of targeted attacks are now directed at SMBs, a threefold increase over last year.
“Small businesses are the path of least resistance for cyber attackers,” said O’Neill. “Attackers target small businesses and suppliers to get to larger organizations, as well. It’s increasingly important for SMBs to protect their business against data loss and keep systems up to date.”
Although IT security has not traditionally been a driver for IT innovation in SMB organizations, perhaps it’s time to make the security argument when advocating for new IT investments. Let us know whether or not you think your security investments have improved the overall security stance of your company.
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