Untangle Report: 80% of SMBs Rank IT Security As Top Priority -

Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face challenges as they implement IT security roadmaps, according to a survey of more than 300 SMBs conducted by network security provider Untangle.

Key findings from Untangle's "2019 SMB IT Security Report" include:

80 percent of SMBs rank IT security as a top business priority, followed by limited time to research and understand new threats (36 percent) and employees who do not follow IT security guidelines (32 percent).
56 percent said recent security breaches will affect their security roadmap moving forward.
52 percent do not have an in-house IT security professional on staff.
29 percent invest $1,000 or less on IT security annually.

In addition, SMBs ranked firewall/network security, antivirus/anti-malware and identity and access management (IAM) as the most important features relative to purchasing IT security solutions.

How Can SMBs Guard Against Cyberattacks?

As the number of employee-based remote offices and branch offices increases globally, SMBs require network security to guard against cyberattacks, Untangle noted. Therefore, MSSPs that deliver network monitoring and security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) services could benefit from rising demand for network security solutions among SMBs.

Furthermore, a lack of automation or visibility within security infrastructure to collect data and provide insights into network security incidents and cyber threats plagues many organizations, the "State of Threat Detection Report" from threat detection and solutions provider Fidelis Cybersecurity indicated. The report also showed that organizations are increasingly adding point solutions to deal with higher levels of network traffic and more connected devices than ever before.