5.5 million small businesses at risk of cyber attacks 

Small businesses in the UK are leaving themselves open to cyber attacks with little or no protection, according to new research.

A study from BT has revealed that thousands of UK businesses may be at risk, even if they think they have security measures in place as many are relying ons security products that are not designed for business use.

Speaking to GB News, BT’s Managing Director Chris Sims said: “We’ve been hearing how difficult it is for some small businesses and what’s clear is that has been the case for at least a couple of years.

“Covid has changed a lot and a lot of businesses have been forced to move online to survive and whilst they’ve been doing that it’s been clear that cyber security just isn’t top of their agenda.”

Research from the Government’s recent Cyber Security Breaches survey found that almost half of all UK small businesses suffered a cyber security breach or attack last year.

However, despite the increased threat, BT’s latest research reveals more than half (51%) of the micro business sector, which make up the bulk of the UK’s 5.5 million SMEs, do not have the right level of cyber protection in place and are relying on security products which are designed to protect consumers rather than businesses.

Mr Sims added: “Every business needs to make sure they’ve got the right level of protection to protect their business. Yet what we’re seeing through our research is that a lot of organisations have little protection or are relying on solutions that are really designed for consumers.

“What we want businesses to do is to give it a bit of focus in the same way you would with any physical asset like your office or a van. You spend a lot of time making sure those assets are protected and we need people to do the same with their IT.”