Action1 Corporation has released its 2022 SMB IT Security Needs Report. The study analyzes the cybersecurity challenges of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and their relationships with managed service providers (MSPs) amidst today’s macroeconomic crisis. The report was conducted in April 2022 and polled 750 IT and business decision makers from SMBs in North America, Europe, and APAC.
A few findings from the report include:
- Half of SMBs (52%) acknowledge that they lack sufficient skills and technology to effectively protect their organization against escalating cyber threats. Indeed, most SMBs fail to assess their IT risks adequately: 63% of respondents think their SMB is at less cyber risk than large enterprises, but in fact, 81% of the SMBs surveyed experienced at least one security incident during the preceding 12 months.
- Top three types of attacks that SMBs most commonly experienced were ransomware (39%), password-based attacks (40%), and phishing (34%), and the top root causes of these incidents were employees falling prey to phishing (63%) and unpatched systems (43%).
- Most SMBs plan to increase their IT security spending. In fact, 80% of SMBs said their IT security budget grew in 2022. Since 96% of respondents already outsource at least some of their IT security to MSPs, those budget increases are likely to go at least in part to additional MSP services.
- Nearly 1 in 4 SMBs (23%) are looking to replace their current IT provider. Top factor SMBs have when choosing a new provider is the comprehensiveness of their IT security offering.
- The most serious frustration SMBs experience with their MSPs is interruptions to business processes: 48% of respondents complained about performance issues with devices — and this problem was the top factor that would lead them to change MSPs.
These insights indicate that MSPs can attract and retain SMB customers by helping them assess their IT risks more accurately and implement vital security controls, including robust patch management and timely software updates, effective password policies, an up-to-date antivirus, backups, and employee cybersecurity awareness training.
“The severity of the cybersecurity landscape and lack of SMB preparedness represent a big opportunity for MSPs,” said Alex Vovk, CEO and co-founder of Action1. “To seize it, they need to provide all the services SMBs need, faster and at higher quality, by using modern technologies that enable them to automate their IT routines and manage client endpoints effectively to ensure both security and performance.”
To read the complete report, please visit: www.action1.com/2022-smb-it-security-needs-report/
About Action1 Corporation
Action1 is the provider of the cloud RMM that delivers real-time visibility into vulnerabilities and IT assets. It delivers security risk mitigation via policy-based patching and deployment of OS and third-party software and includes a remote desktop compliant with modern privacy laws. The company was founded by Netwrix cybersecurity veterans Alex Vovk and Mike Walters to give companies and MSPs a modern and secure alternative to legacy on-premises solutions that do not function in hybrid workforce environments. For more information, please visit www.action1.com.
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