The Australian Signals Directorate is to conduct the largest survey ever of Australian small to medium sized businesses to learn what cyber security means to them.
To be undertaken by the Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) the survey will involve more than 2.3 million Australians working in businesses across the country, from medical and dental practices to accounting, real estate, retail, trade and hospitality.
Head of the ACSC, Rachel Noble said her organisation had partnered with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to ask Australia’s diverse small to medium-sized business sector a range of questions.
“Australian small businesses are taking more steps to improve their cyber security and almost 90 per cent are seeking more resources to understand and tackle cyber threats,” Ms Noble said.
“Other research shows the level of knowledge about good cyber security practices remains fairly low with the majority of businesses believing they are safe from cyber-crime because they use antivirus software.”
She said this was a disturbing trend when 94 per cent of small businesses had internet access, making them increasingly vulnerable to the rising scourge of cyber-crime.
“Small businesses use technology to interact with millions of Australians every day, using point-of-sale systems, online banking and software solutions to manage customer, client and supplier data and other information,’ Ms Noble said.
“By taking part in the survey, small to medium-sized businesses can play an active role in tackling cyber-crime that could devastate their business and have serious impacts on their suppliers and customers.”
The ACSC Small Business Cyber Security Survey is open to anyone operating a small to medium-sized business in Australia.
The survey can be accessed at this PS News link.
