According to the BBC, fraud and cybercrime is costing the country an estimated £193bn a year and has consequently taken the top spot in the league of the most costly criminal activity in the UK, crippling the justice system and draining our resources.

It might be big corporates such as Sony and Talk Talk making headlines following cyber attacks but criminals are looking towards easier targets and attacking the more vulnerable and ill-prepared SMEs. According to Government statistics SME’s were asked about their position on cyber security and many respondents concluded that they:

• Don’t feel they are at risk.
• Don’t think they can afford security.
• Don’t know where to start when it comes to security.

Is my business at risk?

It is an understandable common misconception that SMEs are not at risk, in fact, there has been a surge in activity towards these types of organisations because they are easy targets, for example, SMEs tend to hold much more “unprotected” data, which is easier to access. What’s more, there is often significantly more to lose when it comes to an attack on an SME that could suffer financial or reputational damage as a result of a cyber attack and without deep pockets to rebuild the damage, this can spell disaster.

Can my business afford security?

Let’s turn this on its head…Can you afford to be hacked, taken offline, or lose important data? For many SMEs, data underpins the foundations upon which the business is built, but often, it’s not until we are actually faced with a breach that we stop to realise this.

The government’s Information Security Breaches Survey found that the average cost of the worst security breach is between £65,000 and £115,00 and can result in a business being put out of action for up to ten days.

Yes, this may be the “worst” case scenario, but online security should be seen in the same way as business insurance. Another astonishing fact shared by security magazine was that nearly 40 percent of businesses have experienced a ransomware attack in the last year, and of these victims, more than a third lost revenue and 20 percent had to stop business completely.

Where do I start when it comes to implementing security?

Each business is unique and will operate differently so it’s important to get a solution that works for your needs. It’s always best to seek expert advice in order to understand the options that are available to you, to understand the guidelines for best practice and most importantly the benefits this could bring you and your business.

IP6net has a wealth of experience in providing security solutions for SMEs and implementing best practice security for Cloud services such as Dropbox, Office 365 and Google Apps. Talk to one of our experts and receive a free security audit of the Cloud Services your business uses.