It comes as no surprise that smaller enterprises are more vulnerable to cyber attack than their larger counterparts. For one, too often they don’t see themselves as attractive targets, and secondly, they don’t have large budgets to spend on cyber security.
Robert Brown, CEO of DRS, says a recent report compiled with contributions from Check Point and others, revealed that of the 521 small businesses surveyed, 447 admitted they suffered a security event that resulted in data loss last year. “This equates to a breach rate of 85%.”
Among enterprises, he says, the story was quite different. “Some 47 408 enterprises were surveyed, and a mere 312 confirmed they had been breached. This is no real surprise, because these larger entities are more aware, and better prepared for such events. They have tools and measures in place, and understand that they have valuable data worth stealing.”
According to Brown, SMEs are not always aware of the extent of security risks. “Believing they have nothing worth stealing, they implement few, if any, security solutions or protocols. Even more dangerous, they have been known to use consumer-grade hardware in their networks to save costs, which leaves them open to breaches.”
Compounding the problem, too many smaller businesses think good, advanced security technologies are too complex and too costly to implement, he adds. In addition, they do not have the skills in-house to run and manage their network security effectively, and are afraid of outsourcing and the perceived high associated costs.
He says these are just some of the reasons cyber crooks see SMEs as ‘low hanging fruit’. “They are easy targets, and the criminals are more likely to succeed. Although enterprises are often targeted, they are harder to breach as they have advanced security solutions on board, and are experienced and aware of the threats.”
On the plus side, Brown says SMEs are far from powerless to prevent these incidents. “There are many, easy to run and manage, cost effective solutions available specifically for SMEs. Check Point offers solutions that integrate advanced enterprise-grade protections into a single platform at a very affordable price. The Check Point 700 series platform acts as an Internet router, Wi-Fi access point and an advanced network security device all-in-one, giving SMEs the best of all worlds.”
In addition, he says the platform needs low management and very minimal IT skills but offers the same scope of protection as a large corporate would get.
“Check Point’s security solutions are built with the aim of preventing breaches and can detect zero-day threats without sacrificing Internet performance, and all this on a single platform. The products act as proactive prevention to detect and prevent cyber threats from even getting a foothold on the company network. In this way, any possible attacks are identified before they have achieved their malicious ends. This is so important for SMEs, who too often are not geared to handle the fallout that is the inevitable result of an attack. In order to survive attacks, SMEs must learn to prevent them.”
