Cyber Month 2025 Launches with Stark Warning: Small Businessesโ Remain Critically Vulnerable
SYDNEY – As Cyber Month 2025 officially begins, new data reveals Australian small businesses are substantially underprepared for cyberattacks, leaving them – and their โcustomers -โฃ at substantial risk.The findings, released todayโ by IDCARE, highlight a concerning lack of cyber resilience amongst sole traders and small enterprises, despite escalating threats and potential financial โand โขreputational damage.
Small businesses are taking, on average, longer than individuals to โrespond โto โa โขcyber incident, providing criminals with โฃextended opportunities โto inflict โharm. A recent IDCARE Cyber Healthโ Check found businesses scored an average of just 34/100, demonstrating meaningful vulnerabilities. This comes as 78% of small businesses seeking assistance from IDCARE reported unauthorized access to their Facebook โขaccounts,โ disrupting operations and erodingโ trust. These statistics underscore the urgent need for proactive cybersecurity measures andโข a shift towards a โคcyber-safe culture.
IDCARE’s data paints a clearโค picture: a data breach โฃimpacts far more than just the business itself, affecting customers, suppliers, and the broader community. Alarmingly,โ 74% of small businesses lack โฃa data breach response plan, โand 47% of breaches stem from compromisedโ email systems – โincidents โขfrequently enough preventableโข with multi-factor authentication.
To address this criticalโ gap, IDCARE’s Small Businessโ Cyber Resilience โฃService offers free resources including a cyber โคhealth Check to assessโฃ risk,โฃ one-on-one consultations with cyber advisors, access to cyber psychologyโ support, and ongoing resources toโข improve cyber maturity.
“Building a cyber-safe culture isn’t just about technology; โคit’s about empowering business owners and their teams with theโ knowledge and โคsupport they need to protect themselves,” says IDCARE. “Cyber month 2025 is a crucial opportunity to โขprioritize cybersecurityโฃ and build โฃaโ more resilient smallโค business sector.”
Small business owners can access these free services at https://www.idcare.org/smallbusiness.