According to the World Economic Forum, the greatest cyber risk to the global economy isn’t attacks on nation-states or mega-breaches of big enterprises, but the overlooked soft underbelly of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
The SMEs form every supply chain, power economies, provide employment, and are the lifeblood of communities, yet every day come face to face with the same advanced cyber threats that large enterprises deal with, but in a very asymmetrical way. These smaller businesses have less budget and resources, and are therefore less prepared to face the adversary.
Empowering SMEs with cybersecurity that works and is easy to use is essential for global resilience. This requires a collective approach to cyber defense and needs government and private sector to work together for solutions that smaller businesses can access and operate.
Threats are converging on SMEs that do not have the time or budget to train employees or purchase expensive tools. In addition, their awareness of the dangers are also limited, with 47 percent of businesses under 50 employees not allocating any cybersecurity budget at all.
In an interconnected world economy, an attack on any organization doesn’t stop there. The domino effect from an attack can spread to other SMEs, larger enterprises, and even government and critical infrastructure.
A big shift is needed to recognize that effective cybersecurity must be continuously operated. A SME, just as a large enterprise, needs to be in a state of constant vigilance and readiness to act.
The WEF article outlined 3 pathways to help SMEs and strengthen global defense. First is making technology accessible, second is to scale expert services, and third is cultivating global talent.
A collective approach and mindset will be needed to secure a safe digital future across all industries and regions. That is something that our government, the tech sector, and SMEs have to work on, together and urgently, as artificial intelligence accelerates the capabilities of crime groups, but fortunately, defense networks as well. We just have to make it more accessible.*
