SMBs more worried about risk this year

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2345983/smbs-more-worried-about-risk-this-year

SMB respondents to two surveys by Zurich Insurance said they think their
businesses are more at risk this year, in Q1 of 2014, than during all of
last year.

The responses came from 513 participants in the quarterly Zurich SME Risk
Index as well as data from the Zurich Risk Nexus polls – with the latter
underlining that cyber risk has also represented a heavier load on their
business worry weigher this quarter.

"Forty-five per cent of SMEs [that responded to the survey] are now
concerned about tech vulnerabilities in their businesses, a 12 per cent
increase on January 2013," according to a statement from Zurich.

Perception doesn't always correlate with reality, but it does indicate
potentially fertile ground for channel IT providers to hoe in the coming
year or so.

Zurich Insurance confirmed that its indices suggest that SMB bosses'
perceived level of risk to their business has risen for the first time in
12 months.

"Increasing concerns about cyber threats are a major factor in this rise,"
the insurer said. "Thirty-seven per cent of SME respondents now class the
threat of cyber attack as one of the three biggest technology risks to
their business."

Data loss and privacy breaches were the top SMB technology-related concern,
with fear of data loss overtaking worries about LAN outages – the biggest
tech worry for SMBs last quarter.

Meanwhile, the insurer's separate cyber Risk Nexus report noted that 2013
was the "worst year for data breaches" that had been reported so far.

However, half of SME Risk Index respondents also said they were worried
about business regulations and workforce challenges, such as losing key
staff and not being able to replace them.

"Key person dependency remains the biggest workforce risk, as identified by
40 per cent of SMEs [that responded] when asked to pick their top three,"
the insurer said.

And on a slightly brighter note, about 24 per cent of respondents cited
"web trading and online marketing" and 21 per cent of respondents
"teleworking and mobile technology" as top-three opportunities.

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