The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) concerned about cyber crime has doubled in two years, according to a Zurich survey, although the figure is still relatively small.
The survey, which polled 3,000 executives and managers at SMEs across 15 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and the Asia Pacific, showed that the number of SMEs concerned about cyber crime increased to 8 percent from the 4 percent seen in 2013.
From a list of nine potential threats consequences of cyber crime, 28 percent of SMEs globally rated the theft of customer data as the most critical. In addition, 16 percent of SMEs ranked damage to reputation following a cyber attack.
One in six, 17 percent, of SMEs still consider themselves to be too insignificant to attract the attention of cyber criminals. Zurich believes that hackers are not only looking at the size of the potential gain, but also at the ease of committing the crime.
Lori Bailey, global head of special lines at Zurich, commented: “The results of this year’s SME survey, as well as the Advisen Cyber Survey findings, reveal that demand for cyber insurance is growing significantly around the globe. However, there is still a misconception among some SMEs that they will not be affected by this pervasive issue.”
Zurich also recently released the results of its fifth annual Advisen Cyber Survey of US-based risk managers, which revealed a growing interest in increased limits and security breach response plans and showed that greater attention is being paid to emerging risks from new technology.
