Cybersecurity Offerings Unplugged: Assess Pain Areas and Determine Solution Gaps
With more than 30 million entities, Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) are the backbone of the United States economy. As reported by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they employ almost half (46%) of the private sector workforce from the States, representing 43.5% of the nation’s gross domestic product.
However, SMBs are under constant threat from a growing wave of cyberattacks, threatening their ability to conduct business operations.
In the recent Tech Breakfast [CyberConnex] event co-hosted between Mokxa & CAMI, featuring Advantage Technology as our guest speaker, the panel discussed critical security issues faced by both businesses and service providers in Maryland, and their efforts to protect themselves against cyber threats.
In this Part 1 of our 2-part event report, we will cover cybersecurity pain areas and the inefficiencies in the current delivery of security solutions/services for SMBs and State/Local Agencies.
What are the top 3 security pain areas faced by SMBs and State/Local Agencies?
Vulnerability of SMBs to cyber threats is a growing concern
According to Verizon's 2021 Data Breach Investigation Report (VBIR), 46% of breaches impact SMBs, inflicting an average financial blow of $500,000. Behind this grim reality, it is clear that the perceived weaker security measures of SMBs made them prime targets for hackers seeking quick gains.
SMBs often find themselves in the hacker’s sweet spot. They possess a larger digital footprint than individuals but lack the robust defense of larger enterprises. The burden of similar reporting requirements and punitive damage liabilities as large corporations further complicates the situation.
Enterprise-level Security Solutions is a distant goal for SMBs
Krish Bhatnagar, Head of Cybersecurity at Mokxa Technologies added, “Working with CAMI-approved service providers allows SMBs to address specific cyber pain points by leveraging tax benefits offered by the State of Maryland ”
Despite recognizing the criticality for robust cybersecurity measures, they have limited budgets dedicated to cybersecurity. Financial constraints continue to leave SMBs vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
SMBs do not have the resource with the right skills to manage cyber issues
What are the challenges faced in the current delivery of solutions/services?
Supervision struggles for SMBs while continuously adapt to evolving threats
Cybersecurity field is vast, and no single entity does everything. This diversity leads to a reliance on multi-vendor solutions, which, though effective, presents a challenge in integration and unified control.
Providers are bound to continuously adapt shape-shifting cyber threats. Further amplifying the challenge, every business operates in a unique IT environment.
Here is what Chris May, Security Solutions Director at Advantage Technology shared:
Expensive to implement solutions and scale up as business grows
Blurred lines in multi-tenant cloud solutions
Conclusion
The first part of this report highlighted imminent security challenges facing SMBs in the ever-expanding space of cyber threats. The statistics and insights presented in the Tech Breakfast further underscored the pressing need for tailored security measures.
Next up in Part 2, we will switch gears to the practical measures and security automation that providers/enterprises should employ to bridge these security gaps effectively.
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