Security is important - so why aren't SMBs doing anything about it?

Two-thirds of mid-sized businesses agree that cyber is a top priority, but the same proportion have no intrusion detection

Mid-sized UK businesses are not capable of fully dealing with today's cyber threats, despite almost two-thirds agreeing that security is extremely important.

A survey of 200 IT leaders in mid-sized companies (with a turnover between £15 million and £800 million), by Node4, showed that 63 per cent consider cyber security a top priority; however, 67 per cent have no method in place to detect intrusions, and 25 per cent don't even have anti-virus protection. These findings tally with conclusions by Zurich, released earlier this year.

The mid-market is ‘a crucial sector powering the UK economy', says Node4, and must pay more attention to its own protection.

"Reports of high profile casualties are commonplace, but the threat landscape isn't one that is only relevant for large enterprises; it's a critical issue for every organisation. Today, every organisation must assume it is a target. Recent events have raised even more alarms. A cyber breach can cripple a big organisation, but mid-market ones should not remain complacent," said Steve Nice, security technologist at Node4.

The firm conducted similar research last year, which showed that more than 40 per cent of IT decision makers didn't know how many intrusions or security breaches their company had suffered in the past 12 months; and almost half were concerned about the lack of security in their IT infrastructure.

The 2017 edition of the report shows that only 54 per cent of mid-market firms can encrypt their data, and only a third have software to detect intrusions.

"Many mid-market companies believe that they are not at risk because they aren't big players," said Nice. "Cyber criminals know it, and are quick to exploit the fact that so many smaller organisations are complacent. The result is a big rise in the volume, complexity and intensity of attacks on mid-market businesses," added Nice.