Indian SMBs lost over $95,000 in cyber attacks last year

Some 62% of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India have incurred business losses of more than $47,000 while 13% lost over $95,000 because of cyber intrusions in the last year, according to a study by cybersecurity company Cisco.

Some 74% of domestic SMBs witnessed a cyber incident in the past year, resulting in 85% of them losing customer information to malicious actors, in addition to a tangible impact on business.

In India, malware attacks, which affected 92% of SMBs, topped the charts, followed by phishing (76%). Some 38% of those that suffered incidents said the number one cause was not having cybersecurity solutions in place. Meanwhile, 36% ranked cybersecurity solutions not being adequate to detect or prevent the attack as the number one reason for attacks, as per the study conducted among 1,014 SMBs in the country.

SMBs that suffered a cyber incident also lost internal emails (73%), employee data (71%), intellectual property (74%), and financial information (75%). In addition, 73% of those said it disrupted their operations, 76% admitted it negatively impacted their reputation, and 70% said it resulted in a loss of customer trust, the study further said.

Most SMBs (97%) felt they had too many technologies and struggled to integrate them all.

Panish P.K., Managing Director of Small Business, Cisco India & SAARC said: “As they digitise, SMBs are embracing the fact that any transformation, especially one that allows them to meet customers where they are and build trust, must begin with cybersecurity."

Around the preparedness, the study found, some 89% of SMBs in India have completed scenario planning and/or simulations for potential cyber security incidents in the past 12 months. Most enterprises have their cyber response (91%) and recovery plans (92%) in place.