95% of Small Businesses Lack Cyber Security Insurance: Survey

A whopping 95 percent of small businesses in a new survey said they lack cyber security insurance, even as a large majority view the issue as a huge concern. At the same time, less than half have actually sunk any money over the last 12 months into protecting themselves, according to a new survey.

Those are the main findings of Endurance International Group’s 2015 Small Business & CyberSecurity survey, which polled 1,016 U.S.-based small businesses (companies employing 10 or fewer full/part-time people).

Endurance CEO and Founder Hari Ravichandran said that the results are telling.

“Cyber attacks aren’t just about targeting big business,” Ravichandran said in prepared markets. “In our current environment, it’s not a question of if your business will be targeted, but when. This should be a wake-up call to both lawmakers and the small business community that we must remain vigilant in protecting against these cyber threats.”

Here are some of the specific survey results:

• 81 percent of respondents said cyber security is a concern for their business.
• 94 percent said they either occasionally or frequently think about cyber security issues.
• 31 percent of small businesses have faced an attempted or actual cyber attack.
• Only 11 percent said they have an IT person on staff or an outside IT consultant that handles cyber security issues for their business.
• 83 percent of business owners said they handle cyber security matters themselves.
• 63 percent said they have security software or other measures in place to defend against cyber attacks.
• 42 percent said they have invested in cyber security protections for their small business in the last year.
• 70 percent said they don’t believe the federal government is doing enough to fight cyber attacks.
• 83 percent support efforts by the federal government’s Small Business Administration to provide tax incentives or grants to small businesses that invest in cyber security protections.

All of the respondents were customers of Endurance, which provides web products for companies including web hosting, eCommerce and eMarketing services.

Source: Endurance International Group