A survey conducted by Huntress, a managed security platform for SMBs, has found that mid-sized businesses are struggling to implement basic cybersecurity measures, with gaps in toolkits, planning, staffing, security awareness training, and difficulty securing cybersecurity insurance. The survey targeted private sector businesses in the US and Canada with between 250 - 2000 employees across all industry sectors.
Of the respondents, 49% of mid-sized businesses plan to budget more for cybersecurity in 2023, while in the last 12 months, 24% of mid-sized businesses have suffered a cyber attack or are unsure if they have suffered one. The research showed that a large portion of respondents weren’t deploying threat monitoring, endpoint detection and response, vulnerability scanning, patch management or network detection and response.
Also, 47% of respondents reported their organization does not currently have an incident response plan. In addition, 61% of respondents say they do not have dedicated cybersecurity experts in their organization, and only 9% say their workers adhere to security best practices.
These gaps create major obstacles when fighting off the cyberattacks in today’s advanced threat landscape. While the challenge of recruiting talent to address these issues permeates throughout businesses of all sizes, mid-sized companies are often strapped for money and resources, making it more difficult to effectively recruit and retain the talent they desperately need. Furthermore, 27% of mid-sized businesses reported having no cyber insurance coverage, highlighting the immediate need to shore up cyber hygiene in order to lock in protection.
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