A third of small businesses are leaving themselves open to attack from ruthless cyber criminals – seemingly unaware of the danger they are placing themselves in.

East Anglian Daily Times: Nick Shaw, from Martlesham-based Comms Unite.Nick Shaw, from Martlesham-based Comms Unite. (Image: Archant)

Figures from the Business in the Community (BITC) charity revealed many small businesses have no cyber securities in place, while more than 75% also said they had nothing controlling access to their data systems.

MORE: Cyber security cluster established to protect Norfolk from hackersAccording to Nick Shaw of Martlesham’s Comms Unite, such statistics are alarming but not surprising.

He said simple steps such as securing email accounts, changing password regularly and providing training on security awareness could help protect against the threat of cyber attack.

“There are also more advanced steps that can be taken to prevent businesses from being struck by a cyber attack and that is where we come in”, he added.

East Anglian Daily Times: Kerri-ann Hockley, head of customer service at Ipswich-based digital insurance brokers PolicyBee Photo: PolicyBee.Kerri-ann Hockley, head of customer service at Ipswich-based digital insurance brokers PolicyBee Photo: PolicyBee. (Image: Archant)

“Businesses should protect computers from malware, viruses and cyber attacks with advanced endpoint security.

“Whenever possible, the goal should always be to encrypt files at rest, when you send files and especially on mobile devices.”

With internet security it all comes down to time with many criminal attempting to steal data through employees’ mobile phone and tablets.

“They count on business owners to neglect this piece of the puzzle,” added Mr Shaw.

“Cloud-based security detects web and email threats as they emerge on the internet and blocks them on your network within seconds before they reach the server.”

Kerrie-Ann Hockley, head of customer service at Ipswich’s digital insurance brokers PolicyBee said the figures shine a light on how many small businesses are unaware of the danger they are placing themselves in.

She added: “We undertook a similar survey of 500 small-to-medium UK businesses in 2017 which showed that many were anxious of the risk but were doing nothing to protect themselves.

“A majority stated they would wait until something actually happened before taking action - it seems that not much has changed.

“As a business insurance broker, we deal in risk on a daily basis and urge businesses to assess how vulnerable they are.

“Protecting your business with cyber knowledge and cyber insurance ahead of a potential attack is essential against business interruption.”