Most SMBs Prepare for an Attack in the Next Six Months, Survey Shows

• SMBs are not prepared for security incidents but are looking for more protection
• Cybersecurity investment from SMB will likely rise
• A majority of SMBs believe that cybersecurity will be outsourced in the next five years

Small and medium businesses (SMB) know that cybersecurity is a priority, but their leaders also believe that their organization will be the target of an attack in the next six months, according to a new survey from ConnectWise.

Criminals target SMBs as often as large companies because they know that smaller organizations don’t invest as much as they should in cybersecurity. The payout might not be as significant from attacking a small organization, but the chances of breaching or compromising the infrastructure are bigger.

With cyberattacks turning into certainties, companies are increasingly looking for solutions. According to a new study from ConnecWise, 86 percent of SMBs report cybersecurity to be within the top five priorities for their organization. Moreover, 38 percent of the same SMBs say that cybersecurity is their top priority.

“SMB cybersecurity investment plans have remained broadly unchanged, despite the wider economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic,” states the market research. “Specifically, 74% of SMBs are planning to invest more or much more in cybersecurity in the next 12 months, and 23% say they will invest the same in cybersecurity this year. When compared with last year, we saw a higher percentage of SMBs wanting to invest more and much more in cybersecurity in 2019.”

Also, 77 percent of the SMB worry about an attack in the next six months is also a good reason why smaller companies are looking to either get a cybersecurity solution or change their current security provider.

Driving this point forward is also the belief that most of the companies’ cybersecurity needs will be outsourced in the next five years. More than half of the SMBs don’t have cybersecurity experts in their organization, and that’s not likely to change if they think outsourcing is the direction anyway.