Cybercrime may not be at the top of your list of concerns when you plan to start a new business. However, finding out that almost 49% of all small businesses in the UK* were attacked by cybercrime at some point during the last year, you may start to develop cold feet. According to a recent study by Markel Direct, there were approximately 1493 reported cyber-attacks on small UK businesses, which led to the total cost being around £5.9 million; these cyber-crimes were categorized as ” ‘Hacking social media and email”.
Cybercrime attacks happen in many ways; it has been noticed that phishing was the most common and successful mode for cybercrime attacks, with ransomware attacks coming to a close second. In addition, given the effect of the pandemic, many people have turned to developing and launching their businesses, which has led to an overall business boom in the market.
Most startups that sprang up after the pandemic suffered considerable inconveniences and financial losses due to cybercrime attacks. Therefore, if you are an entrepreneur planning to float your startup or an existing business owner, you must learn about its dangers and how it can affect your business to be safe from the effects of cybercrime.
Dangers Of Cybercrime For New & Small Business Owners In The UK
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Financial Losses
It is estimated that small businesses, on average, bear the financial brunt of cybercrime, mostly in the form of ransomware attacks. It is calculated in a study that the average cost of removing a ransomware attack is around £21,000 on average. Other than that, the most common type of financial loss is incurred by fraudulent emails that affect more than 49% of all online small businesses in the UK.
It is estimated that millions of pounds of losses are caused for small business owners every year. The current data shows no sign of improvement on the horizon, with more and more businesses being affected by cybercrime every year.
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Use Of Technology
Cybercriminals are tech experts that misuse technology for their own personal gain. It has been noticed/observed in the last few years that cybercrime has started to use technologies such as AI, automation, and Machine Learning to launch increasingly more sophisticated cyber attacks that can now affect more businesses than ever at a very high frequency.
Small businesses and medium-sized businesses are easier targets for cybercriminals because they do not have cybersecurity at the top of their concerns. For example, small businesses usually do not employ security engineers to protect the company’s resources. They also do not go for employee training courses that can help the company’s overall cyber security. These factors make small businesses an easy target for criminals.
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Unwillingness Towards Change
It has been statistically noticed that small business owners have done little to nothing to prevent cyber attacks from happening again. On average, 66% of business owners have taken no steps to prevent cyberattacks from happening again. Furthermore, as little as 14% of small business owners have actually invested in cyber security management processes in the UK.
The data mentioned above clearly shows that small business owners have taken little to no security or protection against cybercrime in the UK, which has led to them becoming the easiest targets for cybercrime in the UK.
Bottom Line
If you are a small business owner in the UK, you need to understand the gravity of the situation; in the last five years, businesses in the UK have suffered financial losses to total over 87 billion pounds*. As an entrepreneur, it is high time to educate yourself and your staff about cybersecurity.
*Taken from Statista.com’s article: Cybercrime and UK companies – statistics & facts
**Statistic is taken from Beaming.co.uk’s press release: UK Cyber Crime has doubled since 2015