One international survey is showing positive signs of resilience in small- and medium-sized enterprises. However, their cybersecurity postures are still wanting…
In a Q1 2022 survey of 1,150 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the US, Germany, Singapore and the UK to uncover how such firms are emerging from the pandemic, and how their business and technology needs are changing, two of the biggest impacts included lost revenue (28%) and the loss of customer trust (16%).
In this survey, SMEs are defined as small businesses (up to 100 employees) and medium-sized businesses (up to 1,000 employees). Singapore SMEs in the survey outpaced their worldwide survey counterparts with the highest increase in IT investment (+0.8% compared to +0.3%). SME respondents had accepted that the hybrid work model is here to stay, and had increased their investment in communication technologies and services to support remote workers.
Other findings
Excluding non-quantitative or generalized summaries, the following observations were reported for the sample population:
- 22% of respondents felt they were extremely well protected against cyberattacks, with a minority indicating they had internal security specialists or were working with a third party.
- 33% (estimated) of respondents noted they would like additional help from their Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in upgrading security. In Singapore, remote IT support and upgraded security were the commonly cited areas where service providers can provide assistance.
- The SMEs surveyed had recognized the disastrous effects of a cyberattack on their company but “seemed to agree that they had inadequate security budgets”, according to the survey report.
- Respondents were expecting 40% of their employees to continue working remotely for at least some of the time. The highest priority in all countries was to ensure that IT can be managed and supported remotely, validated by additional laptop purchases and increased VPN capacity.
- 67% of respondents adopted endpoint protection, and less than 50% had any form of mobile security solutions in place.
According to Teong Eng Guan, Business Leader (ASEAN & Korea), Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, which commissioned the survey: “SME security providers should use a prevention-first approach and one that cuts down total cost of ownership by reducing their customers’ need to manage additional staff or security expertise,” adding that SMEs can consider leveraging MSPs to gain access to experienced cybersecurity professionals at an affordable cost. “Third party advisors can provide expert advice on the best security solution for each SME along with training and ongoing support,” he said.
Overview of key results for Q1 2022
