OpenText has released results of the OpenText Security Solutions 2022 Global Small-Medium Business (SMBs) Ransomware Survey.

The company polled 1,332 security and IT professionals from SMBs, firms up to 1,000 employees, in the US, the UK, and Australia.

Respondents represented a range of roles from security and technical employees to the C-Suite, and across multiple industries including technology, retail, education, manufacturing, healthcare and more.

Findings revealed a growing concern about ransomware attacks, the impact of geopolitical tensions and rising inflation rates.

The majority (84%) of UK SMBs said they were concerned about a ransomware attack impacting their business. This is compounded by a concerning lack of awareness amongst SMBs when it comes knowing if they’ve suffered a ransomware attack, OpenText found, and budgets to protect against these risks are low.

According to the research, more than half (53%) of respondents said they were worried about their cybersecurity budget shrinking amid rising inflation rates. Security budgets are likely to be tightened at a time when 46% of IT teams feel more at risk of suffering a ransomware attack because of heightened geopolitical tensions, the research said.

More than a third (37%) of UK firms have experienced a ransomware attack, yet 66% still don’t think or aren’t sure they are a ransomware target. Despite the experience of suffering attacks, security budgets remain minimal to protect against ransomware and other threats.

Data suggested that around 60% spend less than £44K per year, just under half (49%) spend less than £18K per year and 7% spend less than £900 per year.

What the data showed, OpenText said, is a clear need for SMBs to take preventative action to protect their business against the rising ransomware threat.

Support is available in the form of third-party support. However, more than half (52%) of respondents don’t outsource their security to a managed service provider, but 59% of those respondents would now consider doing so.

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56% of SMBs want to increase the size of their security team – with 37% wanting to hire an additional one to five employees. More than one in ten said they don’t use any cybersecurity solutions to protect their business currently.

Prentiss Donohue, Executive Vice President, OpenText Security Solutions, commented: “SMBs are a sweet spot for hackers to exploit because they often lack cybersecurity resources, both technology and security expertise.

“Today’s complex threat landscape presents a huge risk to SMBs that don’t have sufficient cyber resiliency preparation to stop the spread and recover quickly from an attack.

“With adversaries becoming increasingly sophisticated and relentless, a multi-layered protection strategy is no longer a nice to have, it is a necessity.”

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