New research from the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA) and the Australian Government-funded Cyber Wardens program reveals that cybersecurity remains among the top concerns for small businesses for the year ahead.
In details, cybersecurity came in third in the list of small businesses’ concerns after energy prices and the cost of staff, dropping from being the number two concern last year as cost issues take more precedence.
The report highlights the fact that 51 per cent of small businesses believe cybersecurity threats posed a medium or high risk to their business. While 18 per cent of small businesses saw cyber security threats as a high risk, this increased for specific groups, including owners, CEOs and founders (22 per cent), small businesses delivering sales and services online (26 per cent), and those in the business (26 per cent) and IT sectors (33 per cent).
However, some small-business owners admitted that they had no or low confidence in how to prepare for a cyber incident (37 per cent) or how to recover from a cyber incident if it occurred (40 per cent). The situation is worse for sole traders as they were noted to be more likely to have no or low confidence in their knowledge of how to fight a cyber attack (49 per cent) or where to get help when a cyber incident occurred (38 per cent).
“We know that 2024 will be another challenging year for small business with economic headwinds ahead,” COSBOA CEO, Luke Achterstraat, said. “This new data reveals the real challenges facing small business with 54 per cent of respondents worried about energy prices and 52 per cent worried about the cost of staff.
“It is important for small businesses to remain aware of the increasingly acute risk of cyber attacks,” Achterstraat added. “Investing in cybersecurity training and tools is essential to help protect your small business, staff and clients.”
The research shows 49 per cent of sole traders find practicing cyber security too time-consuming on top of all their other tasks, and 44 per cent believe it is more important for medium and larger businesses to practisc cyber security than it is for small businesses.
Small businesses in their first year of operating were also less prepared, with 54 per cent having no or low confidence about how to recover from a cyber incident. Small businesses in their first year of operating were also much more likely to report that cyber security had never been discussed in their workplace (44 per cent, compared to 27 per cent of small businesses generally).
The latest Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Annual Cyber Threat Report revealed the average cost of cybercrime per incident had risen by 14 per cent to $46,000 for small businesses, which is already considered terminal for these businesses. Related to this, ACCC reported that in the last year, the number of businesses losing money to scams had increased by 73 per cent.
“Cyber security is important for every small business – that includes sole traders, side hustles and micro businesses,” Achterstraat said. “It doesn’t matter whether you work in the office or from home, whether you’re growing or shrinking, you still need to take steps to protect your business.”
Cyber Wardens is urging small businesses to take proactive steps to protect themselves, their customers and their futures. Their free program provides training to small business owners and employees on how to digitally safeguard their businesses, with lessons that include essential upskilling on the fundamentals of multi-factor authentication, password management, device updates and backups.
