A new study commissioned by Mastercard reveals that ever-widening scope of cyber-attacks among Australia’s small businesses, with 309,000 small-business leaders disclosing that they have experienced cybersecurity issues and 33 per cent of them admitting that they experienced financial losses as a result.
However, despite the increase in cybercriminal activity, 31 per cent of small-business leaders have been forced to make cuts to cybersecurity due to rising cost pressures, with 63 per cent saying that they are actively trying to scale down business costs due to increased cost-of-living crisis.
The research noted that given the increased cost of living and declining consumer spending, small-business leaders are more focused on revenue-driving activity such as customer acquisition (62 per cent), client relationships (60 per cent) and growth (54 per cent) before cybersecurity (22 per cent), with the latter being cited as their lowest priority.
As such, while 52 per cent are worried about the risk of attacks, 52 per cent have also said that it is too costly for them to invest in cybersecurity.
“There are so many priorities when it comes to running a small business,” Sina Klug, owner of Sydney-based gluten-free cake shop Nutie Donuts, said. “Cybersecurity is definitely a consideration, however, it isn’t necessarily top of mind day-to-day, especially as the rest of our operating costs continue to increase.”
According to the research, cost is the primary barrier to small businesses exploring their cybersecurity options (47 per cent), with time (31 per cent), lack of knowledge of the solutions available (30 per cent) and the threats in existence (24 per cent) also high on the list.
In fact, 66 per cent of small-business owners shared that they would make more of an effort to put security features in place if they were aware of all the cybersecurity risks, while 68 per cent feel they would benefit from simple cybersecurity resources to get them started.
As part of the efforts to improve cybersecurity among small businesses, Mastercard has partnered with ethical hacker Jackson Henry, who rose to fame in 2021 after identifying a vulnerability in the United Nation’s systems that would have exposed over 100,000 personally identifiable records, to educate small businesses on common cybersecurity vulnerabilities and arm them with easy to understand, actionable insights to better secure their systems.
For this partnership, a 10-part series on small-business cybersecurity has been produced and made available on Mastercard’s YouTube and social channels.
“I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes, all around the world, and the pitfalls are relatively similar across the board,” Henry said. “However for small businesses, they often don’t know where to start, and lack the time, resources and budget of larger organisations, making it difficult for them to upskill in an area which is table stakes for businesses big and small,” said Henry.
Malika Sathi, Vice President, Cyber & Intelligence Solutions and Digital Identity in Australasia at Mastercard, said that small businesses are the backbone of communities and make economies stronger.
“As data breaches and cybercrime pose real financial and reputational risks, it’s more important than ever for small business owners to educate themselves on cybersecurity,” Sathi said. “While the research suggests the large majority (67 per cent) are taking some kind of action to protect their businesses, tackling the issue can often feel a little like trying to boil the ocean.
“As an ethical hacker, Jackson provides unique and incredibly impactful insight into the vulnerabilities a small business may face,” Sathi added. “In partnering with him, Mastercard hopes to arm business owners with a clear way to tackle the problem that doesn’t have to be complex or expensive.”
