A new study conducted by CyberSmart has revealed that nearly half of UK SMEs (47%) believe they are at greater risk of a cyberattack since the onset of the cost-of-living crisis. Of these respondents, 38% believe this is due to increased malicious insider threats (i.e., disgruntled employees making decisions that are not in the best interest of the company) and 35% believe it is due to negligent insider threats (i.e., overworked or distracted employees making mistakes). The study surveyed a thousand SME senior leaders across the UK.
In light of the economic uncertainty, almost 1 in 3 employers (29%) admit that employee salaries have stayed the same: in effect, resulting in a decline of real wages to accommodate for inflation. A further 11% have even gone so far as to reduce salaries. What’s more, nearly a quarter (24%) of SMEs have hit pause on recruitment, while 16% have laid off employees for budgetary reasons.
It is no coincidence then that 1 in 4 employers (24%) are finding that their staff are overwhelmed or concerned about meeting their financial commitments, while nearly a fifth (18%) find they are feeling overworked. Moreover, 16% believe their staff are less engaged or productive due to the stress, 14% think they are more disgruntled and 11% have noticed an increased rift between senior leadership and employees.
Remarkably, employers expect their employees might engage in the following activities whilst in this unhappy state.
22% believe employees will take on a second or third job during contractual hours.
22% believe employees will be more likely to make mistakes such as clicking on a phishing link.
20% believe employees will steal sensitive or proprietary data from the company to sell for profit or for a competitive advantage.
17% believe employees will seek to harm company reputation due to resentment over sal ..
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