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• Smaller Companies just as likely to be hacked

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  Susanne M. Dickmann    Group moderator

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  Smaller Companies just as likely to be hacked

  In an exclusive interview with Infosecurity Europe, the head of the Yorkshire, UK based Business Crime Reduction Centre (BCRC) David Stockdale has revealed the results of a UK wide survey amongst small to medium enterprises (SMEs).
  
  According to the findings which were established through online as well as hard copy questionnaires and hours of personal visits to UK businesses, SMEs should not feel safe in the assumption that "there is nothing of interest" to hackers or internet fraud scams within their database. 21% of surveyed SMEs of 1-10 employees admitted to not being aware of what kind of IT security they have in place and to not having IT security assigned to any particular person within the company. Most systems in use were only protected by the IT security software they originally came with, with no individual in charge of security updates, maintenance or back up.
  
  The average cost of intellectual property losses to UK firms that participated in the survey was quoted as a staggering $375.000, with an average of $600,000 in additional cost for legal fees and clean up expenses, victim notification and indemnity payments.
  
  In light of the interview and the recent data collected, experts advise SMEs to adopt a different attitude towards protecting their assets, reminding them of the responsibility towards the intellectual property entrusted to them by clients and customers as well as employees.
  
  Businesses must invest in better employee education and IT safety resources.
  
  • 15 Apr 2009, 3:07 pm
  Susanne M. Dickmann wrote: > In an exclusive interview with Infosecurity Europe, the head of the > Yorkshire, UK based Business Crime Reduction Centre (BCRC) David > Stockdale has revealed the results of a UK wide survey amongst small > to medium enterprises (SMEs). > > According to the findings which were established through online as > well as hard copy questionnaires and hours of personal visits to UK > businesses, SMEs should not feel safe in the assumption that "there > is nothing of interest" to hackers or internet fraud scams within > their database. 21% of surveyed SMEs of 1-10 employees admitted to > not being aware of what kind of IT security they have in place and to > not having IT security assigned to any particular person within the > company. Most systems in use were only protected by the IT security > software they originally came with, with no individual in charge of > security updates, maintenance or back up. > > The average cost of intellectual property losses to UK firms that > participated in the survey was quoted as a staggering $375.000, with > an average of $600,000 in additional cost for legal fees and clean up > expenses, victim notification and indemnity payments. > > In light of the interview and the recent data collected, experts > advise SMEs to adopt a different attitude towards protecting their > assets, reminding them of the responsibility towards the > intellectual property entrusted to them by clients and customers as > well as employees. > > Businesses must invest in better employee education and IT safety > resources.