Prof Marc K Peter from Dreamlab Technologies participated in a representative Swiss study on the impact of Corona/COVID-19 on Swiss Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) with 4 to 49 employees (n=503).
The study shows that a quarter of Swiss SMEs have already been victims of a cyberattack, the recovery of which involved considerable effort. Of these, a third saw financial damage and 10% saw reputational damage and/or the loss of customer data. On the other hand, there is still a lack of awareness among SMEs that they might become victims of a cyberattack.
The most important technical measures to increase cybersecurity are regular data backups, the use of antivirus programmes, regular software updates and the use of firewalls. Only a little more than a third of SMEs train their employees on a regular basis, only a fifth conduct IT security audits and only a sixth of SMEs have taken out cyber insurance.
Key results:
Cyber Attacks: Incurred damage
Damage incurred in Swiss SMEs through cyberattacks, where considerable effort was required to recover from the damage:
- 34% financial damage
- 10% impact on reputation
- 9% loss of customer data
Cyber Attacks: Successful Methods
Number of Swiss SMEs that have already been successfully attacked using below methods:
- 18% malware / viruses / trojans
- 6% online fraud
- 5% data theft / data loss
- 5% denial of service
- 4% blackmailing
Organisational measures to increase cyber security
Organisational measures to increase cyber security in Swiss SMEs:
- 72% IT support delivery
- 48% emergency plan / concept
- 37% training of employees
- 36% implementation of IT security concept
- 21% IT security audit
Technical measures to increase cyber security
Technical measures to increase cyber security in Swiss SMEs:
- 92% Regular data backup
- 91% use of antivirus programs
- 89% Regular software updates
- 85% use of a firewall
The full report (in German) is available on: https://kmu-transformation.ch/digitalisierung-home-office-und-cyber-sicherheit-in-kmu/
For a comprehensive introduction to IT security / cybersecurity for SME, Nicolas Mayencourt and Marc K Peter will publish their practical guidance textbook in February 2021 (in German). Visit https://shop.beobachter.ch/buchshop/arbeit/it-sicherheit-fuer-kmu for further information.
