Middle-market businesses were a frequent target for cyber criminals last year, with 28 percent of middle-market executives saying their company experienced a data breach in 2020, according to RSM's new 2021 Cybersecurity Special Report.
According to the firm, the middle market is such a frequent target because companies that size are large enough to have valuable data stores but may not have the kind of robust cybersecurity or personnel in place to thwart would-be bad actors like most larger companies do. The move to remote work, and away from highly secure corporate networks to home networks, presented another potential vulnerability to be exploited by hackers.
That 28 percent figure is the highest recorded since RSM began tracking data in 2015, and represents a 10 percent jump from 2019. According to the report, 42 percent of executives at larger middle-market companies reported a breach in 2020, compared to just 16 percent of their smaller counterparts.
Companies in the middle market are seemingly aware of their vulnerable position, and have taken on a variety of protective measures in recent years to mitigate potential attacks. According to RSM, 71 percent of respondents in their recent US Middle Market Business Index Survey say they have a dedicated function focused on data security and privacy. However, amid continued uncertainty at this stage in the pandemic with no obvious path back to normalcy in its wake, 64 percent say they anticipate unauthorized users will attempt to access their data or systems in 2021, up from 55 percent in 2019 and 2020.
This high-threat environment has seen an uptick in the number of organizations carrying a cyber insurance policy. RSM's survey found that 65 percent of middle market organizations carry such a policy, up 3 percent from last year. However the number of respondents who claim to be familiar with what exactly the policy covers has grown considerably to 64 percent this year, up from 48 percent in 2020.
"Cyberattacks and breach attempts were already steadily on the rise in the middle market, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified the threat. In this environment, companies must take advantage of benchmarking opportunities and peer insights to develop an effective defensive stance with generally limited resources," the report reads in part.
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