3 Cybersecurity Statistics to Help Inform Your Business’ Safeguards

When it comes to your business’ cybersecurity, it can be too tempting to operate under the assumption that the few cybersecurity events you hear about on the news are all that happen. Unfortunately, this is far from actual fact. Let’s review some of the statistics that might change your impressions, especially if you hold the aforementioned assumption.

Let’s start with a statistic that might hit a little close to home…how real the chance of a cyberattack is for all businesses, regardless of their size.

Did You Know that 61% of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses Experienced a Cyberattack Last Year?

This is according to the Verizon 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report—one of the most trusted publications on the topic—and to be frank, it comes as no surprise to us that this is the case. We’ve seen countless SMBs underestimate the severity of their own risk and pay the price for it.

So unfortunately, an SMB can’t rely on their size as a defense. This is largely because a large portion of today’s cyberattacks are largely automated, meaning they aren’t looking for big targets, or small targets, or medium-sized targets…they’re looking for targets, inclusive. Letting your guard down opens you up to become one of these targets all the more easily.

Did You Know that Eight out of Ten Breaches Feature Human Involvement?

Again, this is according to the Verizon DBIR, and more specifically, 82 percent. The unfortunate truth is your team members are almost guaranteed to be the most persistent and dangerous threats to your business—and in most cases, it is completely unintentional.

Hackers and cyberattackers have come to the realization that the most vulnerable part of your business is your workforce. It’s just easier to fool a person than it is to try to find a vulnerability or come up with a clever bit of code that some programmers didn’t anticipate. You—and critically, your team—need to be aware of your potential roles as a weakness and work to actively counteract them.

Did You Know That the Vast Majority of Businesses Anticipate Being Breached at Some Point (If They Haven’t Been Already)?

If you ask security professionals amongst businesses, 90% (yes, nine-zero ninety) operate under the assumption that they’ve already been breached or will be in the very near future. May this be a nihilistic approach to cybersecurity? Perhaps—but it also helps put you into the mindset that you need to focus on security, the mindset of always improving cybersecurity and identifying its failings to better correct them.

While These Statistics Might Paint a Grim Picture for Your Cybersecurity, They Actually Show How to Help Keep You More Secure

We can also help, by implementing the security policies, practices, and solutions necessary to help protect your business. Give us a call at 607.433.2200 to learn more about how.