Smaller businesses acknowledge increased cyber threats but few do anything about it

While 83 percent of respondents to a new survey of small and medium businesses agree that they have seen an increased awareness of cybersecurity in their organization, only 36 percent have adopted new security policies.

The report from Dashlane is based on a survey of more than 600 employees and managers and over 300 IT decision makers (leaders) at SMBs across multiple industries.

Of SMBs that have taken action, 38 percent increased usage of their existing password manager, 37 percent increased cybersecurity training, 36 percent adopted new security policies, and 23 percent say their organizations started using a password manager.

Views at different levels of the organization differ, however. 65 percent of leaders report increased usage in their existing password manager compared to only 25 percent of employees. Similarly 32 percent of leaders say their organizations started using a password manager, but just 20 percent of workers and managers agree. With some things though it's the leaders' perception that's lagging. 31 percent of leaders say their organizations adopted new security policies compared to 43 percent of employees, and 23 percent of leaders note increased cybersecurity training compared to 40 percent of employees.

"Our research shows awareness of cybersecurity threats among leaders has increased substantially, but organizations need help and education to make the right decisions when it comes to security. We're seeing awareness increase in a world that has employees going remote, but this awareness isn't really being put into action," says JD Sherman, CEO of Dashlane. "In the case of SMBs, there is no full-time, dedicated IT person, let alone a security team -- in these instances, a password manager checks the boxes on reliability and affordability, and offers a great first line of defense."

But even where password managers are available their usage is in doubt, although 41 percent of surveyed organizations require a password manager, only a fifth of employees believe the adoption rate among their co-workers is 95-100 percent.

You can get the full report from the Dashlane site.

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