[June 14, 2013]

CSID Study Finds That Small Businesses Store Valuable Data, But Are Less Prepared For Data Breach

CSID, the global leader in identity protection and fraud detection technologies and solutions, recently conducted a survey to determine how small businesses under 100 employees are responding to the unique cyber security risks they face, what types of valuable data they store, and what challenges they face when it comes to implementing a plan for breach preparedness. The survey results demonstrate a lack of action to protect against security risks, despite large amounts of personal employee and customer data being stored. Most notably, the survey revealed:

• Only 12 percent of small businesses have a data breach preparedness plan in place or are currently working on one
• More than half (55 percent) of the small businesses surveyed store Social Security Numbers, 80 percent store email addresses and phone numbers, and 70 percent store home addresses for employees, customers and/or partners
• Nearly 25 percent of small businesses stated that budget was a main obstacle for focusing on cyber security, while 43 percent of survey respondents were already comfortable with their current cyber security measures

"Small businesses own a lot of sensitive data, but aren't as prepared or knowledgeable about protecting it as they should be. With the prevalence of BYOD and cloud practices in today's small business cyber landscape, small businesses should understand the risks they face with protecting their data and how to mitigate them," said Bryan Hjelm, vice president of product and marketing at CSID. "Our goal here is toeducate and empower small business owners to protect their consumers and keep their businesses healthy."

Small businesses are increasingly at risk for cyber attacks and breach. According to a 2012 study conducted by Symantec (News - Alert), 31 percent of cyber attacks were aimed at businesses with 250 employees or fewer, compared to 18 percent in 2011. The Ponemon Institute recently reported that more than 50 percent of small-to-medium sized businesses experienced a data breach in 2012.

CSID will host a webinar on June 18 at 12 p.m. CDT (News - Alert) during National Small Business Week to discuss why small businesses are at risk in today's cyber landscape and share cost-effective measures that businesses can take to protect themselves from risk. Panelists will include small business and security experts from SpareFoot, Rackspace and the National Cyber Security Alliance. Register here to attend the webinar.

About CSID

CSID is the leading provider of global identity protection and fraud detection technologies for businesses, their employees, and consumers. With CSID's advanced enterprise-level solutions, businesses can take a proactive approach to protecting the identities of their consumers all around the world. CSID's comprehensive identity protection products advance from credit monitoring to include a full suite of identity monitoring services; insurance and full-service restoration; identity authentication and voice biometrics; and proactive breach mitigation and resolution. For more information, visit www.csid.com. Join CSID on Facebook (News - Alert) at https://www.facebook.com/CSID and on Twitter (News - Alert) at @CSIdentity.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]