A new report from McAfee has revealed the true extent of cyber attacks on small businesses, which are increasingly at risk of having their work disrupted by attacks.
The survey of SME owners and decision makers from six countries found that three-quarters (73%) of organizations now believe cybersecurity is one of their biggest risks.
Two-thirds (67%) of companies surveyed confirmed they had suffered a cyber attack in the past two years, while 17% had experienced more than one.
Cyber attacks are increasing
Cyber attacks not only put companies at risk of data loss and other unwarranted access, but also have lasting financial consequences for companies. Three in five (61%) lost more than £10,000 due to a cyber attack, while many others noted the physical or mental toll, and time lost in dealing with resulting IT issues.
Alarmingly, the research also sheds some light on the effects of artificial intelligence on the landscape. McAfee highlighted that more and more criminals are turning to AI to scale, accelerate and improve the sophistication of their attacks, especially phishing and other scams.
In the case of cybersecurity, McAfee sees fighting fire with fire as the most appropriate solution, calling on companies to adopt AI to more effectively prevent AI-enabled attacks.
Despite growing awareness of cyber threats, small businesses continue to face threat management challenges, with approximately half (48%) of business owners expressing complete confidence in their ability to prevent attacks.
Looking ahead, McAfee is addressing some key weaknesses. Namely that companies do not use more experienced third parties to increase their security. Naturally, the research is an opportunity for McAfee to plug its own products, but more broadly, broader collaboration between experts can help form an unbreakable chain of defense against attackers.