Cybercrime could cost small UK firms £785m a year
Federation of Small Businesses and government report back from joint survey of members
Forty-one per cent of 2,667 small business respondents surveyed by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) were victims of online crime in the 12 months ending October 2012, representing a loss of £3,926 per business on average.
According to the FSB, this means the total loss – if multiplied by all 200,000 members – could be as much as £785m.
Mike Cherry, national policy chairman at the FSB, said the FSB, Home Office, and Department of Business study underlined that cybercrime is real and growing threat – not something that can be ignored.
"Many businesses will be taking steps to protect themselves but the cost of crime can act as a barrier to growth. For example, many businesses will not embrace new technology as they fear the repercussions and do not believe they will get adequate protection from crime," Cherry said.
This is the first time the FSB has tried to ascertain the volume of online crime affecting its members.
Twenty per cent of respondents to the survey indicated they had been hit by computer viruses, eight per cent said they had been hacked, and five per cent claimed their online security had been breached some other way.
The survey also found, however, that only about 36 per cent of respondents bothered with security patches, and only 60 per cent kept their anti-virus scans up to date.
"While we want to see clear action from the government and the wider public sector, there are clear actions businesses can take to help themselves. I encourage small firms to look at the 10 top tips we have developed to make sure they are doing all they can," added Cherry.
"We [also] want to see government look at how it can simplify and streamline its guidance targeted specifically at small firms and make sure there is the capacity for businesses to report when they have been a victim of fraud or online crime."
David Willetts, minister for universities and science at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), said BIS published a guidance document for small businesses in April, outlining 10 steps it believes small firms should take to enhance their security online.
"This guidance sets out the current risks, how to manage these, and plan implementation of appropriate security measures," Willetts said. "We know only too well of the importance of securing buy-in from both big and small business in implementing appropriate protection against cyber risks. Business success can depend on it. Increasing security drives growth."
10 top tips for small businesses from the FSB
*Implement a combination of security protection products (such as anti-virus, anti-spam, firewalls).
*Carry out regular security updates on all software and devices
*Implement a resilient password policy: passwords should have at least eight characters, and change regularly
*Secure your wireless network
*Implement clear and concise procedures for email, internet and mobile devices
*Train staff in good security practices and consider doing employee background checks
*Implement and test backup plans, information disposal and disaster recovery procedures
*Carry out regular security risk assessments to identify important information and systems
*Carry out regular security testing on the business website
*Check provider credentials and contracts when using cloud services
The report makes other recommendations for businesses, the police and banks as well as the public and private sector. Businesses should also report fraud to Action Fraud via www.actionfraud.police.uk if it occurs, to help contribute to a more complete intelligence picture.
Banks and card payment providers also need to make businesses more aware of the risks and the need to take preventative measures before they start trading, the FSB said. Meanwhile, the PCI-DSS self-assessment and compliance forms should be streamlined and simplified to suit small businesses, it added.
The poll was carried out by Research by Design on behalf of the FSB.