US SMBs vulnerable to cybercrimes

GLENDALE, US: Panda Security, a provider in cloud security solutions, recently announced its worldwide barometer on the status of security at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

A press release from prnewswire said that according to the study, which surveyed 5,760 companies worldwide, 44 per cent of the more than 1,400 US respondents have recently been infected by Internet threats.

Worldwide, 58 per cent were affected, with Brazil showing the highest infection rate at 86 per cent. Only 8 per cent of SMBs in Germany reported infections.

US SMBs cited that, of any threat, viruses affected their companies the most, at 41 per cent, and they ranked spyware second, at 26 per cent.

Worldwide, viruses also ranked first, with 55 per cent of respondents naming them the most potent threat to their businesses. Ten per cent of SMBs in the US were affected to the point of having to stop production, with a worldwide average of 30 per cent.

While 97 per cent of US SMBs surveyed have installed antivirus and 95 per cent claim their security systems are up to date, many SMBs still lack common security protection.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents disclosed they have no antispam in place, 22 per cent no antispyware and 16 per cent no firewall.

The study further said that 52 per cent of SMBs said they lacked any Web filtering solution. Of those US SMBs without any security systems in place, 27 per cent cited they have not implemented them because they aren't important or necessary, and 20 per cent because they are expensive.

"Despite strong efforts in the US to educate businesses about the importance of computer security, a staggering number of small and medium-sized businesses have become victims of cybercrime," said Luis Corrons, PandaLabs technical director.

"It is especially alarming to see so many businesses fail to adopt the most basic security measures, such as anti-spam and firewall solutions," added Corrons

The survey was conducted by Panda Security between December 2008 and May 2009 among non-users of Panda solutions.

The survey universe consisted of companies with 1 to 400 computers in Spain, USA, Latin America, China, Germany, Benelux, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Switzerland, Austria.