Australian small businesses unaware of APTs

Australian small businesses are unprepared for - and unaware of - the new generation of cybersecurity threats, according to Trend Micro.

Research into the state of IT in Australian small businesses shows that just 22% are unaware of the risks posed by advanced persistent threats, the security vendor said.

Furthermore, just 38% have mobile device security mechanisms in place, even though 57% consider the ability to protect mobile devices and services as important or very important.

But among companies that have not yet deployed mobile device management technology, 37% plan to do so in the next year.

Perhaps more surprising in this day and age, only 82% of companies were aware of antivirus security technology and 75% had heard of anti-spam and email security technology.

Antivirus technology is deployed across 82% of small business respondents, the same percentage that were aware of the existence of the technology.

“Security threats are no longer solely the concern of large financial organisations as small businesses are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals,” said Mark Sinclair, director of small-medium sized business at Trend Micro ANZ.

Qualities small businesses are looking for in a security technology include high performance, reliability and product effectiveness, and minimal to no maintenance required by on-site IT staff.

Around 62% of Australian SMBs pay for security products from traditional annual licences, while many of the remainder use subscription-based pricing.

The study was conducted by Survey.com on behalf of Trend Micro and involved the participation of 300 Australian businesses with between five and 100 employees.

Image courtesy of Rocky Lubbers under CC