Small Businesses Increasingly Vulnerable To Security Threats

More than half experienced a security breach this year.

As small businesses begin to depend on increasingly sophisticated technologies to run their operations, they are also leaving themselves wide open for security threats, according to a new survey by the Small Business Technology Institute and Symantec Corporation. Small businesses lack sufficient security controls over such basic systems as email (20 percent are not secured) and wireless networks (60 percent are not secured).

Moreover, a full 75 percent of small businesses have no formal planning mechanism in place for ensuring information security. The dangers are not just theoretical.

More than half of respondents (56 percent) said they've experienced at least one security incident in the past year. Most (60 percent) cited computer viruses, spyware, and other malware as the main cause of their security woes. Despite that, only 43 percent allocate a specific budget for security solutions, and an even smaller number (30 percent) have increased spending on information security solutions. Part of the onus should be on the vendors, small businesses say.

The majority of them (70 percent) feel that information security products materials could be improved to help them make more informed decisions; most small businesses also said that they need products that specifically meet their needs.

The study involved 1,024 respondents with 1-100 employees, including those operating as home based businesses and in commercial locations.