Small businesses store valuable data, but are less prepared for data breach

USA: CSID, the global leader in identity protection and fraud detection technologies and solutions, recently conducted a survey to determine how small businesses under 100 employees are responding to the unique cyber security risks they face, what types of valuable data they store, and what challenges they face when it comes to implementing a plan for breach preparedness.

The survey results demonstrate a lack of action to protect against security risks, despite large amounts of personal employee and customer data being stored. Most notably, the survey revealed:

* Only 12 percent of small businesses have a data breach preparedness plan in place or are currently working on one.

* More than half (55 percent) of the small businesses surveyed store Social Security Numbers, 80 percent store email addresses and phone numbers, and 70 percent store home addresses for employees, customers and/or partners.

* Nearly 25 percent of small businesses stated that budget was a main obstacle for focusing on cyber security, while 43 percent of survey respondents were already comfortable with their current cyber security measures.