Despite a lack of resources and funding, growing companies are achieving great efficiencies by using applications to help manage projects, sales and customer service operations. But with customer data a core element of these solutions, are businesses effectively safeguarding it and the continuity of the business, from evolving cyber-risks?According to the Kaspersky Lab report, ‘From data boom to data doom: the risks and rewards of protecting personal data’, in 2017, almost half (42%) of SMBs experienced at least one data breach even though the majority (72%) were sure they were reliably protected from such incidents.
Organizations strive to keep operations moving
To stay afloat, small organizations need to keep up with their competitors and roll out new products or services quickly. The use of digital tools is instrumental in making this happen – to enable collaboration, project management and planning, and for interacting with customers. To be successful, the tools must work properly and be accessible to every employee who needs them. This is why companies strive to maintain the continuity of these crucial business processes. Indeed, when it comes to IT security, one of the main concerns for 40% of businesses is the loss of access to internal and customer-facing services.
Are businesses really prepared for a data breach?
As well as access to services, the data that underpins them is an important part of sales and planning, including analytics and customer information. According to the study, most companies (94%) store financial reports as well as personal customer data — such as account numbers (80%), and bank card data (78%) – on employee devices, internal servers and in public clouds.
However, this abundance of data also brings increased risk of compromise. Whilst it appears that organizations are prepared for this – 72% of small and medium-sized businesses are confident that they are well or perfectly equipped in terms of data protection – this sense of security seems to be exaggerated. In 2017, 42% of SMBs suffered at least one incident affecting data security, with over a quarter (27%) of companies experiencing between two and five breaches.
In more than 40% of cases it is customers’ personal data stored within the organization that is affected as a result of these incidents.
“Digital transformation gives small and medium sized companies new opportunities for growth. Collaboration services and other digital applications can have a huge impact upon efficiencies and long-term business success. But to ensure they are not adding a layer of vulnerability and risk into the organization, it is vital to think about their security and that of the data they hold. As IT infrastructures become more complex, businesses can lose control over their data. To prevent growing organizations from falling victim to accidental breaches or planned attacks, IT security needs to become just as much a key to success as financial, legal and personnel considerations,” says Sergey Martsynkyan, Head of B2B Product Marketing, Kaspersky Lab.
The following measures will help companies keep data secure and applications available, so employees can focus on their core business operations:
To find out more about Kaspersky Lab’s solutions to help small and medium businesses protect customer data, visit Next Generation Cybersecurity for Business.
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