90% of Irish SMEs don’t rank cybercrime as a business risk

1st November 2015: The vast majority of Irish SMEs may be putting their business in jeopardy by overlooking their exposure to cybercrime as hacking incidents continue to rise, according to a new global SME risk survey published by Zurich Insurance plc (“Zurich”).

The 2015 SME Risk Survey, conducted amongst a representative sample of 200 SMEs in Ireland, found that less than one in ten (7%) companies ranked cybercrime as a key risk to protect their business against. However, when pressed on the impact a cyber-attack could have on their business, as many as two in five (42%) recognised that the theft of customer data would be their greatest exposure, followed by identity fraud (22%) and business disruption (14%).

The survey asked owners, CEOs, CFOs, COOs and General Managers within companies with up to 250 employees to identify the key risks for their business in 2015 and their perceived impact if they were to occur. More than half of the companies surveyed had a turnover of less than €5 million.

Commenting on the findings, Shane Keating, Head of Commercial Mid-Market and SME Business from Zurich said, “In recent years we have witnessed the detrimental impact that cyber-attacks can have on large businesses, however the threat to smaller and medium sized businesses is very real and should be treated as such by leadership. Cyber-attacks are on the rise, and arguably pose a greater threat to SMEs who may not be able to cope with the resultant financial and reputational consequences so having the right protective measures in place is a must.”

When questioned about the wider risk landscape, over a third (35%) of SMEs surveyed said high competition was their number one threat, followed by a lack of customer demand (27%), however a significant minority (16%) of SMEs said that they didn’t think their business was exposed to any risks at present.

The survey also found that SMEs view reputation damage as a greater risk to their business than they did two years ago, with only 5% of SMEs calling it out as a key risk in 2013, compared to 12% today.

“Our work with SMEs right across the country – particularly through our network of 450 brokers – has shown us that more companies are proactively planning for future risk however in doing this, they must consider the bigger picture and all of the potential risks that could negatively impact their business. Our role as an insurer is to help businesses prioritise these risks and protect against them,” added Shane Keating.

Zurich is one of Ireland's leading general insurance companies offering a wide range of products, from Private Motor, Home and Farm Insurance to Engineering and Commercial Property Insurance.