Only Half of Small Business Owners Fully Prepared for a Cyberattack

The study found that 50% of small business owners and/or executives felt that cybersecurity was enough of a threat that they thought about it daily

On Apr 6, 2022

Provident Bank, a leading New Jersey-based financial institution, has released the results of a cyberattack prevention survey, which addresses cyber vulnerabilities and fears among US small businesses. Annual revenue of the businesses surveyed ranges from $1 million to $40 million.

As international news coverage warns of potential cyberattacks on the US, Provident Bank set out to gauge preparedness, finding that 78.95% of the survey’s 600 respondents felt that news coverage of international world crises has heightened their awareness of their own business’ cybersecurity, potentially prompting them to prepare their business for a cyberattack.

Out of the 600 respondents, 50.17% reported that their companies are fully prepared for a cyberattack. However, a notable finding of the survey showed that 50.64% of respondents felt that cybersecurity was enough of a threat that they thought about it daily.

“Cyberattacks pose a serious threat to businesses nationwide. Our survey confirms the heightened fears that small business owners and executives are feeling right now regarding their companies’ cybersecurity,” said Anthony Labozzetta, president & CEO, Provident Bank. “In light of the current climate, all businesses, small and large, should consider taking measures to address cybersecurity in their business plans.”

Although the U.S. has been working with the private sector to harden cyber prevention and bolster abilities to respond to cyberattacks, 56.67% of the respondents reported one or more cybersecurity attacks in the past 12 months (27% of those responses experienced more than three cyberattacks).

Additional findings include:

• 69.5% say their business addresses potential cyberattacks or cybersecurity breaches in their business continuity plan
• 61% say they use secure Wi-Fi to ensure their business and keep their customer’s data safe. The next most common were the utilization of an anti-virus software (54.8%) and the backup of all data (49.67%)
• 41.67% of respondents expressed that increased IT costs was one of the biggest impacts faced after a cybersecurity breach. This was followed by a loss of productivity (34.8%) and fines (25.8%)

Provident Bank surveyed 600 c-level executives and business owners between the ages of 18 and 55. Respondents were either employed for wages or self-employed. A full research report is available upon request.

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