Skip to main content

Big Cyber Challenge to Small Businesses

 

The number of startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are growing in India. They contribute considerably to the Indian GDP. They will play a crucial role in making Bharat a $5 trillion economy in the near future. They face many challenges to making their businesses sustainable and profitable. Cyber threats have emerged as one of the significant threats for big corporations as well as MSEMs. Cyber threats remain similar for big corporations as well as MSMEs. This is because both kinds of organizations use technology to capture, process and store sensitive data and information. This data includes financial data, customer data, intellectual property (IP), transactional data, and business emails.

Major cyber threats to MSMEs and startups are spam and phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, identity theft, data theft, and IP theft. A recent report by the Cyber Peace Foundation revealed that 43% of cyberattacks target MSMEs and startups. The report's findings show that about 46% of SMEs are clueless when addressing cyber risks. Furthermore, around 60% of these small businesses that fall prey to cyber incidents shut down within six months. A study by cybersecurity firm Trellix indicated that Indian SMEs faced an average of 37 cybersecurity incidents daily, leading to a loss of nearly 7 per cent in revenue.

Big corporations are making investments in cybersecurity technologies to tackle cyber challenges. MSMEs and startups are at a disadvantage as they operate with limited resources. However, business owners must realize the financial implications of cyberattacks. It is essential to recognize that allocating resources to cybersecurity is an investment in the long-term protection of the business. Investing in cybersecurity early on is more economical than coping with the fallout following a breach, which can include monetary and reputational losses and legal ramifications.

Ignoring cyber threats will not solve business owner's problems. They need to understand cyber risk and take steps to mitigate it. The following points will help business owners to minimise cyber risks.

1.     Acknowledge cyber risk as a business risk.

2.     Use a holistic approach to cybersecurity rather than deploying cybersecurity countermeasures like anti-malware and firewalls without an appropriate strategy.

3.     Educate your employees and other stakeholders about cyber threats and their roles in preventing them.

4.     Stay prepared for cyberattacks.

5.     Work with the right technology partners.

In conclusion, SMBs and startups are central to India's growth story. With limited resources, they are also an attractive target for threat actors. Cyber incidents may have devastating effects on SMBs and startups. They must prepare themselves to take the cyber challenge head-on.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Risk to Resilience: The CERT-In Cyber Audit That Could Save Your Business

According to CERT-In, there is a 30% YoY increase in cyber incidents involving small and medium businesses. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)  has issued a crucial directive from  September 1, 2025 for improving cyber resilience of the MSME sector in India. As per the directive, all MSMEs must undergo an  annual cybersecurity audit  by Cert-In empanelled auditors. This regulation ensures that even the smallest organisations are aligned with national cybersecurity standards — transforming digital security from a choice to a necessity. What is the CERT-In Annual Cybersecurity Audit? The Computer Emergency Response Team – India (CERT-In) has established a framework of cybersecurity obligations for organisations operating digital systems in India. One of the key components is the  annual cybersecurity audit  — requiring organisations, including many in the MSME segment, to have their cybersecurity posture assessed and verified on a yea...
Post a Comment
Read more

10 Unignorable Signs Your Family Business Needs a Professional CFO (Before It's Too Late)

  प्रणाम , Running a family business or SME in India is a matter of pride. It’s not just about profit—it’s about legacy, relationships, and responsibility. But many family enterprises, despite their hard work and growth, hit a ceiling. The reason? Finance is often treated as bookkeeping, not strategy. As a Karta or leader of an Indian family business, you wear many hats. You’re the chief visionary, the operations head, the client relationship manager, and often, the de facto finance manager. You’ve gotten this far on grit, intuition, and the trusted circle of family. But here’s a hard truth: the complexity of modern business can no longer be run on Excel sheets and gut feeling alone. The transition from a successful family-owned shop to a scalable, legacy-building enterprise requires one critical role: a strategic Chief Financial Officer. The question is, how do you know when you need one? If you see these signs, the time to act is now. 1. You’re Flying Blind Without a Fina...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian Family Businesses Aren't Unorganised. They're Organised Differently.

  "Western weapons give certainty. But it's only the element of surprise that gives victory." Pranam  Every few months, I sit through another panel where a consultant with a crisp accent and a crisper deck tells a room full of Indian business families that they need to "professionalise." That they can't scale. That they don't innovate. That they're inefficient because the son sits next to the father, because decisions get made over chai instead of in a boardroom, because there's no five-year strategy document with a MBB watermark on it. I've spent about TWO DECADES, inside these businesses to know this isn't true. It's not that Indian family businesses (FMBs) are unorganised or unprofessional. It's that they are organised around a completely different operating system — one built for a different terrain, a different history, and a different kind of endurance. The Vietnam Lesson In the 1960s and 70s, Vietnam fought a war against a ...
Post a Comment
Read more