Accelerating Qatar SME Growth Journeys Requires Strong Cybersecurity Protection of Digital Assets
April 18, 2022
Building a business from scratch is always hard work and maintaining steady development while ensuring safe operations is even harder. Small and medium-sized business (SME) entrepreneurs manage a range of responsibilities for their business, including financial security and reputation. While this is true for businesses of all sizes, SMBs have a higher challenge as they are more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats that could disrupt operations and harm their development trajectory.
One of the most obvious problems is that SMEs have limited resources and staff. Working under these constraints can lead to a variety of risks in their digital environments. Small businesses must address security risks with the same resources that large enterprises have at their disposal. The reality is that the impact of a cyberattack on an SMB can be devastating, leading over 60% of SMBs to shut down their operations and nullify the chances of recovery. And as the threat landscape is rapidly changing, businesses need to be aware of and proactive against modern cyber threats, among other emerging risk trends.
According to Trend Micro’s annual Cybersecurity Report for 2021, over 4 million (4,232,791) email threats and over 6 million (6,903,023) URL victim attacks were detected and blocked in Qatar. Additionally, over one million (1,657,084) malware attacks were identified and stopped. And as the country transitioned to remote working, Smart Home Network (SHN) solutions protected home devices and prevented more than (7,12,525) SHN events. These figures not only indicate the need for organizations to adopt advanced security solutions, but highlight the need for holistic practices that result in a strong cybersecurity culture in the workplace.
Small businesses will continue to be prime targets for malicious actors, as outlined in the Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2022: Toward a New Momentum report. They will be targeted by basic malware attacks, where it becomes easy for malicious actors to penetrate systems with readily available tools without customization. Since SMBs have short-staffed security teams and must work within budget constraints, they must prioritize securing their endpoints with multi-layered security solutions such as XDR. It enables companies to detect and respond to threats on networks, servers, email and endpoints, ensuring that business operations are not hindered. And, can also be a direct answer to the problem of lack of resources, allowing organizations to dissect incidents faster, identify critical threat patterns and complex attacks in real time.
SMEs are the backbone of the economy, as they create meaningful jobs and greater job satisfaction for the masses. Protecting the digital journeys of small businesses is key to maintaining stability in the region. With the adoption of cybersecurity awareness training and multi-layered solutions, small and medium-sized businesses will not only survive the torrential road to success, but thrive on it.
