A new report from insurer NIG has found that the UK’s broadband
explosion is having a major effect on the behaviour of the
country’s small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) but large
numbers are failing to manage the risks this new reliance on
technology creates.
According to the study , ‘Connecting to the future’, by
SME insurer NIG, over two thirds of SMEs are now using
broadbandand over half
would find the loss of the service disruptive.
The report raises concerns over many SMEs’ ability to
manage their systems and their growing dependence on technology. It
shows that SMEs are using more IT hardware but invest relatively
little in security. A third lack IT support and three quarters have
no disaster recovery plan for their data. A quarter of broadband
using SMEs pay for cheaper consumer-level broadband packages rather
than more robust and higher priced business packages.
A third of SMEs have no specialist IT support or no
support at all and that a quarter of SMEs are using consumer-level
broadband services rather than business services.
Three quarters have no disaster recovery plan for their
data; and most have never tested their ability to perform a system
rebuild from a back-up.
The report also focuses on the IT insurance needs of SMEs.
According to the authors, a clear gap has developed between the
cover that insurers are able to provide and the types of IT-related
risks to which SMEs are most vulnerable.
The study predicts that the creation of monitoring
software that an insurer can download onto a policyholder’s
computers and servers will be a pivotal moment in the development
of more comprehensive insurance cover for SMEs’ IT systems and
data.
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