Over a third of UK microbusinesses in the last year have been hit by cyber security incidents, costing them an estimated £166m collectively.
These were the findings of a GoDaddy survey which highlighted the key issues that cyberbreaches had cause microbusinesses.
Almost a quarter of the small firms impacted by cybercrime reported they had suffered financial losses as a result and nearly half of those surveyed said they had experienced website downtime.
The survey also found that a fifth of businesses who have fallen victim to fraud worry that their reputation has been negatively impacted. These concerns ring true as 15% of consumers reported they would stop shopping with an online retailer if it experienced a security breach.
Ben Law, Head of GoDaddy UK and Ireland, said: “No business, regardless of its size, is entirely safe from the risk of security threats, but those smaller in size arguably have more to lose. For microbusinesses, the financial and reputational damage can be even more impactful, so the key is in preparation and protection.
“With the right tools and solutions in place, it’s possible to further protect your online business and company and customer data.”