In a new report, Cyber security and fraud: the impact on small businesses, The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has partnered with the Home Office and the Business Department to look at issues affecting small firms.
New research shows that cybercrime costs small businesses around £785 million per year as they fall victim to fraud and online crime.
The report shows that 41% of FSB members have been a victim of cybercrime in the last 12 months, putting the average cost at around £4,000 per business. The most common threat to businesses is virus infections, with 20% falling victim.
The FSB has released its top ten tips to protect your business
- Implement a combination of security protection solutions (anti-virus, anti-spam, firewall etc).
- Carry out regular security updates on all software and devices.
- Implement a resilient password policy.
- Secure your wireless network.
- Implement clear and concise procedures for email, internet and mobile devices.
- Train staff in good security practices and consider 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.
James Brokenshire, MP Parliamentary Under Secretary for Security, Home Office, said: "Having personally been involved in the cyber security debate for several years now, I am pleased that the Home Office is working with the FSB to highlight the current experiences of small businesses.
"Cyber security is a crucial part of the Government's National Cyber Security Strategy and we need to make sure that all businesses, large and small are engaged in implementing appropriate prevention measures in their business. This report will help give a greater understanding of how online security and fraud issues affect small businesses, giving guidance as well as valuable top tips to protect their business”
You can download the Cyber security and fraud paper here.
For further information visit the FSB website.
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To report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
