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Australian SMEs need to improve their cyber defences to avoid the risk of being left behind, an expert has cautioned.
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Cyber experts call for SMEs to bridge cyber security gap
13 November 2024
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A newly published paper, Cyber Protection Gap Widens for SMEs, has demonstrated the risk of small- to medium-sized businesses being left behind in the fight against costly cyber attacks if they do not bolster defences.
The report revealed the growing gap between Australian corporates and the nation's 3 million SMEs in terms of preparedness to counter attacks.
The authors, Win-Li Toh, Dr Michael Neary and Sarah Wood, said bridging the cyber protection gap would require continual collaboration between government insurers, tech providers and the SME community.
Toh said the recent increase in cyber attacks acted as a wake-up call for corporate Australia to strengthen their cyber security, which SMEs should follow.
“SMEs often haven’t had the bandwidth or opportunity to really understand and tackle the risks,” Toh said.
“Many have put cyber into the ‘too hard basket’ because they’re daunted by technical jargon and don’t know where to start with implementing cyber security measures.”
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The report also showed the cost associated with cyber security was a significant barrier for SMEs battling challenging economic conditions.
According to Toh, some SMEs believed they were too small to be targeted by cyber criminals and did not understand that a serious cyber incident could cause their businesses to collapse.
The average cost of cyber crime for a small business increased by 15 per cent to $46,000 in 2022–23, according to the Australian Signals Directorate.
Toh noted that with 62 per cent of small businesses having reported a cyber attack, a concerted effort was needed to close the cyber protection gap faced by small businesses.
The report emphasised the importance of SMEs as they often held sensitive and personal information and a cyber attack could significantly impact broader society.
“Given SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy, employing up to a third of our workforce and cyber risks are always changing, they shouldn’t be dependent on luck to protect them from a cyber attack – they need to depend on knowledge, good cyber hygiene and robust cyber defences,” the report said.
Toh called for more government initiatives and larger business support to help bolster the protection of SMEs and the valuable information they potentially held.
“We’d like to see industry, insurance companies and governments work together to ensure SMEs are protected from cyber threats and have practical, cost-efficient means to strengthen their cyber defences and ability to respond to cyber attacks,” she said.
“Recent initiatives designed to help SMEs improve their cyber capabilities, such as the Cyber Wardens program announced in the 2023 federal budget, are very welcome.”
“We also support the development of consistent, achievable and affordable cyber security certifications for SMEs to help them demonstrate their cyber preparedness.”
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