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The Top 5 Reasons Cybersecurity is Important for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses

November 15th, 2022 | 4 min. read

The Top 5 Reasons Cybersecurity is Important for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses

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Cybersecurity has become one of the most pressing issues for businesses of all sizes, especially small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). As technologies change and advance, it becomes increasingly important to establish a cybersecurity program for your business.

Cybersecurity is one of the most talked about business issues right now, but why is it important and why do you need it? In this blog, we talk about the five top reasons why you need cybersecurity right now.

1. SMBs represent over 40% of cyberattacks

In early 2022, SMBs represented about 28% of cyber attacks, with the majority of the attacks happening to large businesses. However, as we near the end of the year, cyberattacks against small businesses have been on the rise, amounting to over 40%. Why is this? Many small business owners believe that they have less risk due to their size and that hackers only attack large businesses. Due to this mindset, SMBs become increasingly attractive to hackers. Small businesses tend to not be financially prepared for an attack and quite often lack cyber insurance.

Just like large companies, SMBs are beginning to realize they need to implement a strong cybersecurity program to keep their business, employees, and customers safe. In doing so, they are improving their security positioning to minimize their risk of being attacked.

2. Ability to Attain Cyber Insurance

Small businesses tend to have limited IT resources which can make attaining cyber insurance difficult. What most SMBs don’t realize is that cyberattacks aren’t just an inconvenience – they can also put you out of business. Having a cyber insurance policy can help your business recover from potential financial losses caused by cyberattacks.

In a previous blog post, we discuss the top 6 requirements for SMBs to obtain cyber insurance coverage. Those 6 requirements are:

  1. Training
  2. Anti-virus
  3. Having a managed firewall
  4. Multifactor authentication
  5. Email management and filtering
  6. Backup and recovery

Taking the above necessary steps to secure your systems can help prevent attacks and lower your insurance premiums. Working with a third party provider, like Guide Star, can help you implement the above standards to obtain cyber insurance without breaking the bank. Contact us to get started.

3. Protect Employees and Customers.

While cybersecurity attacks can cost you money and loss of productivity, they can also be extremely damaging to your employees and customers. Hackers know that small businesses store and manage their employee and customer data in a way that is easy to obtain and sell off.

If your business gets hacked and your employee personal data isn’t protected, employee data like bank accounts, medical information, social security numbers, and more, are at risk for being stolen. If your customer data isn’t protected, it could lead to customers leaving, lawsuits, and fines.

You don’t want to lose your employee’s and customer’s trust. Businesses must take an informed approach to protect their employees and customers sensitive information. Having a strong cybersecurity program will lower your attack surface and keep valuable information safe.

4. Cyberattacks Cause Financial Loss

It’s no secret that a cyberattack can be financially devastating. In fact, a report by IBM states that the average cost of a cyberattack in 2021 for a small business is $2.98 million. Of course, this can vary based on the attack vector and the damages it caused. However, it’s highly unlikely for a business to walk away from an attack without some sort of financial loss.

If you are a SMB that is attacked, you could be responsible for the following costs including, but not limited to:

  • Managing damages caused by the attack
  • Credit monitoring for employees or customers
  • Legal fees and fines
  • Ransom costs of a ransomware attack

The stronger cybersecurity program you have, the better. It’s far more manageable to implement a cybersecurity program instead of managing a costly attack and the time it takes away from being productive.

5. Government Regulations.

Due to the rise of cyberattacks and the risks they impose on businesses, at least 40 states have introduced or considered new cybersecurity legislation, states the NCSL.

According to the NCSL, the most common legislations will require government agencies to implement cybersecurity training, follow formal security policies and standards, have an incident response plan, and report security incidents.

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has also launched a program called the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). It’s a comprehensive framework to protect the defense industrial base’s sensitive unclassified information from frequent and increasingly complex cyberattacks (Source: ACQ). While this currently only applies to DoD contractors, it could eventually apply to non-DoD government contractors, as well. Contractors must have this certification in order to prove that they have a strong cyber program to win future government contracts.

Implement a Cybersecurity Program Today

Not sure where to start? Developing a cybersecurity plan can be a daunting task in the ever-changing world of cybersecurity. Headlines emerge every week from media outlets highlighting the latest hack, breach, or data leak so it’s important to be proactive and protected.

Thus, consulting with a team of experts makes sense for many companies.

As leaders within the cybersecurity industry, Guide Star and its partners can help you evaluate your security program, build a roadmap for eliminating your risk, and ensure you have the resources you need to succeed.

Guide Star can bring you the services you need to protect your company without breaking the bank.

If a fractional approach is something your company may be interested in exploring, connect with our experts and start your plan today.

(844) 403-8551

sales@guide-star.com