2 in 5 small-medium businesses experience cyber attacks

50% of respondents say that the financial impact of these attack were at least $677,060.

A study recently released by Cisco shows that 40% of small-medium businesses (SMBs) in Singapore have encountered cyber attacks in the past year. 

The survey covered over 3,700 business and IT leaders across 14 markets in the Asia Pacific. 153 of these respondents were based in Singapore. 

Singapore SMBs also showed a more apprehensive side when approaching cybersecurity. 67% say that they are more worried about this compared to a year ago, with 77% of respondents saying that they feel exposed. 

Reasons for the attack were also asked by the study. More than 52% pointed towards having inadequate cybersecurity solutions, whilst 31% did not have any solution in place. 

More than 51% of SMBs said that these attacks resulted in a financial impact of $677,060 (US$500,000) or more, with 11% even going so far as to say that $1.35m (US$1m) was impacted

Effects of these cyber incidents as reported by the respondents include loss of employee data (51%), financial information (51%), internal emails (49%), sensitive business information (49%), and money through financial fraud (49%). 52% would also say that this brought a negative impact to their reputation. 

Managing Director Andy Lee of Cisco, Singapore and Brunei, said that this is a result of the digital adoption done by businesses.

“SMBs in Singapore have digitalized rapidly over the last 18 months, driven by the need to leverage technology to survive and thrive in this challenging environment. This has in turn fueled a critical need for SMBs to ensure they have the solutions and capabilities to safeguard themselves on the cybersecurity front. This is because the more digital they become, the more attractive a target they are for malicious actors. While the growing cybersecurity concerns among SMBs may be seen as negative by some, it is actually an encouraging sign as it demonstrates increased levels of awareness and understanding of cyber risks, which is the first step in improving the security posture.”