Smaller businesses are finding themselves in murky waters as a new study from Mollie, the European financial service provider, reveals small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are unprepared for cyberattacks amid a rise in fraud.
The research found that 5.5 million SMEs lost £10,800 this year as a result of fraud. Consequently, Mollie found that nine in 10 SME senior c-suite executives are concerned for the survival of their company. To combat fraud, organisations are committing more resources to cybersecurity measures. However, this can in some instances hinder the business’ development – Mollie has set out to ensure no firm has to face this decision.
It is not as easy as simply saying “don’t commit as many resources” though. Over the past 12 months, 58 per cent of surveyed SMEs said they had to deal with phishing scams. In addition to these impersonation email attacks, 42 per cent of firms also said they had to deal with refund fraud, where customers manipulated refund policies to obtain reimbursements for products or services they were not entitled to.
Cyberattacks didn’t stop there. Thirty per cent also said they experienced account takeover attempts, where unauthorised parties tried to gain access to their online business accounts. Additionally, a quarter (26 per cent) experienced chargebacks on completely legitimate transactions, and over two in 10 (23 per cent) faced carding attacks, where stolen cards were tested at checkout, leading to spikes in failed transactions.
Richard Wivell, marketing manager at Nemesis Now said: “Experiencing gateway attacks was a costly and stressful ordeal for our business. We dealt with fake orders, refunded fraudulent payments, and worked overtime with developers to manage thousands of malicious requests.
“Unfortunately, the lack of urgency from our previous provider forced us to take matters into our own hands working with our trusted web development agency to identify vulnerabilities and blocking attacks.”
More than just a financial toll
In addition to the financial toll, online fraud is impacting the productivity of small businesses. Mollie’s research found that they spend an average of 15 days—or 120 hours—each year managing and mitigating fraud-related issues. This time commitment diverts resources from core business operations, further straining already limited budgets.
Dave Smallwood, UK managing director of Mollie
Dave Smallwood, UK managing director of Mollie said: “As the backbone of the UK economy, it’s crucial that UK SMBs –especially e-commerce ones– are equipped with practical solutions to manage their money and fight fraud effectively. Many small businesses lack the resources to cover a single fraudulent incident, and without support and action, we risk stifling business innovation and growth.
“Fighting fraudulent activity is taking resources away from day-to-day business operations, and we need this to change. We need to provide businesses large and small with access to the support needed to safeguard against increasingly sophisticated threats so they can focus on the job at hand.“
The post UK SMEs Are Concerned About Preparedness For Cyberattacks as Fraud Rises Finds Mollie appeared first on The Fintech Times.
