Latest Cyber Aware National report

Following its release of the Cyber Scare Report earlier this year, the Office of the NSW Small Business Commissioner has now released the Cyber Aware National Report which highlights the increasing risk of cybercrime to businesses.

The report provides results of a study into cyber security awareness of businesses, based on 1019 responses from SMEs. The Key Findings revealed that:

• 4 out of 5 recognise the increasing risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime
• 42% believe they can protect their business from cybercrime by limiting their online presence
• 20% believe they experienced a cybercrime event, and that:
  • 41% of these events resulted from malware
  • 40% of these events cost the business between $1000 and $5000, and for 2 out of 3 businesses these costs were not recovered

The report supports the need for increased awareness of cybercrime to ensure small businesses can safely do business online.

You can help protect your business by:

• installing security software and regularly backing up your data
• using a cloud-based email service
• educating your staff

OSBC partnered with the VIC, SA, WA Small Business Commissioners, Small Business Champion in Qld and ASBFEO to undertake this national study.

See more information and resources on the OSBC website about How cyber aware is your small business?

You can also visit Scamwatch for more information about cybercrime and how to protect yourself, follow @scamwatch_gov on Twitter and subscribe to Scamwatch radar alerts.

Kind regards

Small Business team Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)