SMEs unruffled by cyber risk: Chubb survey

A survey by Chubb of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore reveals that while cyber risk is rising, SMEs remain unprepared to deal with the potential consequences.

The second annual Chubb SME Cyber Preparedness Report 2019 – ‘Ignorance is Risk’ released recently, shows that nearly two-thirds (65 percent ) of Singapore SMEs reported experiencing a cyber incident in the past 12 months, as more businesses embrace digitalisation.

Worryingly, more than half (54 percent) of cyber incidents were caused by a risk SME leaders had already identified, showing a clear gap between perceived and actual preparedness, said a statement.

Despite a rise in cyber incidents over the past 12 months, Singapore’s SMEs are less worried about the impact on their business, with significant drops across four key areas– relationship with customers (from 65 to 55 percent), revenue and sales (from 62 to 51 percent), public reputation (from 59 to 49 percent), and cost of the incident (from 59 to 46 percent).

This apparent lack of concern is puzzling, especially when SMEs make up 99 percent of all businesses in Singapore, according to Andrew Taylor, cyber underwriting manager, Chubb Asia Pacific.

“With more businesses going digital in Singapore, it’s unsurprising that cyber incidents are on the rise. SMEs need to keep pace and educate themselves about all the cyber threats they face,” said Taylor.

The survey further points out that SME leaders have a poor opinion of their employees’ cyber risk preparedness.  More than half (53 percent) of SMEs are not confident that employees with access to sensitive data are fully aware of their data privacy responsibilities. Additionally, 29 percent of SME leaders believe employees are the weakest link in their cyber defence.

While 60 percent of SME leaders believe insurance has a role to play in protecting against cyber risk, only 34 percent of SMEs are currently insured.