A recent series of studies from different organizations uncovered that data security issues are among the greatest concerns and areas of focus for small businesses.
The first of these, conducted by Redshift Research in April of 2014, found that the technology selected for implementation was affected more by concerns over its data security capabilities than by its costs. This was corroborated by research from Ipsos Public Affairs in May of 2014 that showed that some 40 percent of SBOs had updated their technology over the last five years specifically for improving the security of company data, also surpassing consideration of costs as a driving factor. The Ispsos report also stated that 29 percent of SBOs would be purchasing or upgrading their company’s data security measures during the coming year.
How companies are protecting the security of their information was the focus of a May 2014 study by Research Now. Commissioned by CSID (a leading identity protection service), this survey found that 45 percent of small business owners who employ between 10 and 100 people, said that third-party vendors were their primary source for security protection upgrades. Surprisingly, 42 percent of businesses with fewer than ten employees take no steps to protect information.
The Research Now study also showed that over 60 percent of the responding SBOs believe undetected malware is their biggest problem, followed closely by employee error and cyber-attacks to their systems.
Reference:
eMarketer. “Small Businesses Beef Up Security”; July 8, 2014.
