LOSS OF DATA AND CYBER-ATTACKS NOW TOP BUSINESS RISKS FOR SMBs

By Shuhada Mansor

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- Loss of data and cyber-attacks have been
identified as top business risks for small and medium businesses (SMBs),
according to a survey by Symantec Corp.

This came ahead of traditional criminal activity, natural disasters and
terrorism, said Symantec's country manager for Malaysia, Alex Wong.

The survey showed that the average SMB worldwide was spending US$51,000 a
year to protect their information, he told Bernama Thursday.

Wong said the survey, carried out from May to June 2010, involved 2,152 SMBs
worldwide, with 1,000 of them from the Asia Pacific and Japan, including
Malaysia.

"It also revealed that the annual cost of cyber-attacks in the Asia Pacific
and Japan was US$152,266 while US$12,500 was the average spent by SMBs in the
region on information protection annually," he said.

The survey classified small businesses as those having between 10 and 99
employers and medium businesses as those with 100 to 499 employees.

Symantec is the world's leading provider of computer security software.

Its principal consultant for Asia South region, Nigel Tan, said SMBs needed
comprehensive solutions that could be easily deployed and managed while
providing the highest level of protection.

"Symantec is giving SMB customers more choices for protecting their growing
business with hosted options for e-mail and web security, and new lower pricing
for the Symantec Protection Suite," he said.

To complete the protection for growing businesses, Symantec offers the
Advanced Business Edition, Enterprise Edition and Small Business Edition of its
Symantec Protection Suite product.
-- BERNAMA


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