Big Stakes for Small Business Security, reports Kaspersky

According to 2013 Global Corporate IT Security Risks survey (conducted by B2B International, in conjunction with Kaspersky Lab), the worldwide average cost of a data breach for a small or medium-sized business can be as high as US$36,000. This amount includes the average amount of lost business opportunities, as well as costs to hire an external IT expert to remediate the immediate problem, and possibly purchase new equipment.

For a very small business, a 5-digit cost to respond to a Cybersecurity incident can be a crushing blow. Beyond the immediate costs, a security breach can also create a more long-term and intangible effect – the loss of your customers’ trust.

According to IDC estimates, there are approximately 80 million businesses worldwide that operate with fewer than 10 employees. And yet these organizations will process millions, if not billions, of dollars in 2013. Another reality of these 80 million very small businesses (VSBs) is that the vast majority don’t have employees or resources dedicated to building their IT networks.

Kaspersky Lab has security solutions which can protect businesses with fewer than 25 employees. Kaspersky Lab recently released a third version of their KSOS (Kaspersky Small Office Security), a key solution that includes new features such as Safe Money to Protect Online Banking, Enhanced Mobile Device Support, Automatic Exploit Prevention, Password Manager, Online Backup along with Web Policy Management, Data Encryption and File Backup, Central Management that help small businesses stay ahead of modern security challenges and this easy-to-use product that doesn’t require business owners to be IT experts.