Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rarely trigger national headlines for breaches in data security and compliance, not because they aren’t a target but because the monetary impact is small compared to the big corporations.  However, breaches are all too common and while the cost of cyber breaches to SMEs, including the impact to business operations, remediation work and resultant fines, may not run into millions, it can do untold damage. SMEs are agile and lean in their business operations, and so unbudgeted costs can severely impact finances.

SMEs form a critical component of a business supply chain, yet ironically, they can also be the weakest link. Guy Lloyd at Policy Monitor explains why SMEs need to step up their cyber resilience

Organisations at the top of the supply chain rely on a nimble network of SMEs to provide niche products. This unique status provides SMEs with disproportionate access to important information. So, while it might be the big-name brands that generate attention grabbing headlines about data breaches, it can be the weak security credentials of smaller organisations that expose the entire chain.

SMEs – 5 Steps to cyber security

Security awareness programmes are not just for large companies with dedicated IT resources. Guy Lloyd at Policy Monitor explains the 5 steps SMEs can take to build security awareness and ensure data compliance at the same time.