Data Breaches: 40% of SME Employees Think They Will Be Blamed
A new survey of office workers has revealed some valuable insights into the limited effectiveness of small business cyber security and the need for improved cyber security awareness.
Avast, a leading supplier of digital security and privacy products, has found that almost 40% of small business employees think that a staff member who unknowingly clicks a malicious link would be held personally responsible for a data breach, which therefore encourages employees to keep quiet rather than flagging a potential threat.
The survey, consisting of 2,016 office-based workers in the UK and US., explores the current cybersecurity awareness levels among small business employees during a period of elevated risk brought to pass by the ongoing pandemic. It found that many employees were also unaware of the threat level within their workplace with over 70% thinking the biggest cyber security threat is outside their organisation.
To tackle these common misconceptions, Avast Business has developed a cyber security quiz which is an employee educational tool which provides small business owners with the opportunity to assess employee knowledge gaps and identify the areas where more training is required.
With less than 18% of employees knowing that ignoring updates for trusted applications can leave their company vulnerable to a cyber attack, the survey points to quick, simple changes that can be made to help organisations avoid unnecessary breaches. This was found to be especially true in government/public sector roles, where employees admitted their reliance on IT departments telling them when to update their trusted applications, demonstrating the importance of automated, centrally controlled updates to reduce the burden of responsibility being placed on individual employees. In addition, over 65% of employees think that large businesses are more likely to be victims of a cyber-attack than small businesses.
While cybersecurity has become an increasingly important focus for small businesses around the world, the survey suggests there is still a lack of understanding about the most vulnerable types or organisations, which could potentially lead to employees letting their guard down.
“Every organisation has a responsibility to provide employees with a secure setup, whether they’re office-based or working from home. This secure setup is not just hardware and software, it also extends to training.... There is a heightened reliance on information sharing by IT and security departments as bad actors increase the volume of attacks intended to deceive unsuspecting employees." said Lindsey Pyle VP Sales & Marketing at Avast.
These findings certainly indicate there is room to improve the dissemination of information to small business employees. The plain fact is that SME directors need to put in place clear policies for their employees to follow to help them better understand good security practice and that they are not to blame when something go wrong.
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