The SMB cyber security challenge: 1000 business leaders speak out

There are over 33.2 million small businesses in the US, accounting for 99.9% of all US businesses.

They need to stay secure from cyber threats while focusing on their core business competencies.

It turns out there is a huge opportunity for CSPs to provide broadband security to their small business customers. Small business owners and managers are lawyers, doctors, accountants, financial advisors, and shop owners at your favorite store or café.

They are professionals in their field, supporting communities and driving innovation.

But they are not security professionals.

Yet, according to an Allot-sponsored Coleman Parkes Research survey of 1000 small businesses, small business leaders hold prime responsibility for securing their businesses. Intrigued? Stop reading right now and dive straight into the full report

In addition to the report, we sat down twice with Coleman Parkes Research to discuss the results.

First, I sat down with Stephen Saw, Director of Coleman Parkes Research, to discuss the report in a podcast.

We discussed our biggest surprises. I was shocked that while small businesses state that security was important, most are not following good security practices and have significant holes in the networks. And business owners are spending significant time and money on solutions that don’t provide foundational protection over their entire network. Stephen echoed these sentiments and dived into the supporting data.

It’s sometimes assumed that since business leaders are experts in their fields that they also know cybersecurity. But Stephen shared a story about a doctor who fell victim to cyber criminals. If only he had protection from his network provider!

In both the podcast and the webinar, they discussed the opportunity that communication service providers have in the small business vertical.

Then Michael Schachter, Director of Product Marketing, and Eduardo Holgado, Director of Product Management, at Allot sat down with Stephen again.

Stephen explored the results of the survey.

Among the highlights:

• While 72% of respondents say that protecting against cyber threats are important, only 46% of respondents had a solution in place to block cyber attack
• 35% of SMBs worldwide will pay in excess of $7 per month per site for security services.
• Cyber security matters are consuming an average of 6 hours of a senior manager’s time in the average SMB. But in North America 21% of SMBs report the amount of time they are spending is high and between 10 – 20 hours.
• 70% of all SMBs (75% in North America) agree that it is the responsibility of the CSP to provide secure traffic.
• 69% of SMBs turn to their CSP for advice on how to stay safe.

Eduardo then showcased how CSPs can increase revenue, stand out from the crowd, and reduce churn by protecting their SMB customers with Allot BusinessSecure and NetworkSecure.

Watch the webinar.