Cyber resilience under attack

 

A lack of expertise is the issue having the greatest negative impact on cyber resilience within small businesses, according to over 40% of respondents to the latest Twitter poll run by Infosecurity Europe (www.infosecurityeurope.com),  while 34% cite the surge in remote workers driven by COVID-19 lockdowns as the second biggest stumbling block.  

“The rapid pivot to remote working was – and continues to be – a huge challenge for SMBs,” says Maxine Holt, Senior Research Director at Omdia.  “These organizations typically don’t have a dedicated cybersecurity function, and it’s part of someone’s job to oversee it.  There was a sticking plaster placed over security during the shift to remote working, which isn’t sustainable . Companies must now peel the sticking plaster back, and put longer term security approaches in place.”

Findings from the poll suggest that the need for SMBs to adopt digital ways of working at pace may have significantly increased their cybersecurity risk and vulnerabilities.  Nearly 50% of those surveyed cited the skills deficit within the business as a particular concern with many respondents saying that small companies bear primary responsibility for educating and supporting themselves in becoming cyber resilient.  This was followed by government bodies (32.3%) and large tech companies (18.1%).  

“Human skill and expertise was singled out as the most important element of a cyber resilience approach in our November poll,” says Nicole Mills, Senior Exhibition Director at Infosecurity Group.  

“Lack of skills, combined with a rise in remote working and shrinking budgets, could prove to be a ‘perfect storm’ for smaller businesses.  If they are ultimately responsible for their own cyber resilience maturity, as most believe, achieving this without the relevant expertise and resources will be nigh-on impossible.  The constraints SMBs are operating under won’t be going anywhere – but enhancing their resilience must be a key priority for 2021.”
 
Cyber resilience will form a core theme for Infosecurity Europe 2021 (8-10 June, Olympia, London) and will be covered extensively as part of the Conference programme.  To register your interest in exhibiting or attending in 2021, please visit:  www.infosecurityeurope.com/en-gb/enquire.html