SMEs urged to safeguard against cyber attacks

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country have been urged to safeguard themselves against cyber attacks after a study revealed that as many as 43 per cent of the cyber attacks targeted SME s while only 14 per cent of small businesses rated their ability to mitigate cyber risks, vulnerabilities, and attacks as highly effective.

The global study conducted by Rapidscale on SMEs further revealed that an average cost reduction of 23 per cent in their IT spending is possible by adopting modern technology solutions such as the cloud. Additionally, a VMware research shows that simplifying IT Infrastructure can reduce hardware operating costs by 50 per cent and energy costs by 80 per cent for SMEs.

Oman’s SME sector has been projected to be contributing over 20 per cent to its GDP while employing nearly 40 per cent of the workforce. Reports suggest that the country’s improving infrastructure, ease of doing business and environment of untapped opportunities have attracted a range of investors, business owners and entrepreneurs thus making it to be a preferred destination for businesses looking to expand their horizons and build their branch network.

Oman’s fast-growing SME segment is further urged to take advantage of multifaceted solutions that ushers them into the modern workplace era by covering all of their productivity, admin and security needs.

Oman’s cyber law stipulates stricter punishment against such cyber attacks and if the data and information provided for another is used without the consent of the one who provided the same, imprisonment and a fine not less than RO 1,000 or both will be awarded.

Survey reveals 43 per cent of cyber attacks target small businesses, while 60 per cent of SMEs go out of business within six months of an attack.