ONLINE fraud is costing small firms £4,000 a year on average, according to the Federation of Small Business (FSB) in the north.
It has released a report on the impact of cyber security and fraud and small businesses and found a third of companies are affected.
The body held a workshop at the recent Smart Business Show in Belfast where IT security consultant Simon Whittaker of Vertical Structure sounded a warning to members.
He said everyday usage of technology including cloud data storage and free wi-fi access contribute to compromising the security of 30,000 websites daily. The FSB said SMEs must "educate themselves on cyber security" and have issued guidance on how to reduce the cyber threat to their livelihoods.
The body's policy chairman in Northern Ireland, Wilfred Mitchell, said: "Small businesses are increasingly becoming the sole target of many cyber criminals, according to a report earlier this month featured in the Guardian. There is a need for businesses to understand that profit is not the only motive behind such attacks, with there being in existence 'hacking' competitions among criminals. "Cyber crime costs the UK economy £27 billion annually, and in Northern Ireland, businesses are still reluctant to address the issue as it is regarded as something that affects the rest of the UK or larger corporations, despite PSNI figures revealing increased cyber criminal activity within the province." "In our document Cyber Security and Fraud: The impact on small businesses we set out 10 top tips for small businesses to protect themselves from fraud and online crime."
The report can be downloaded in PDF format from the FSB Northern Ireland website at www. fsb.org.uk/ni.