Cybersecurity Strategies in European SMEs: Navigating Digital Risks and Enhancing Cyber Resilience

Abstract

Cybercrime rates have increased rapidly during the last decades, resulting in cybercrimes becoming common crimes and leading to the importance of companies’ attention to cybercrime experience. Therefore, this study examines cybercrime experience and provides insights into the companies’ concern, level of information about cybercrime risks and training requirements in SMEs. An empirical analysis is conducted using a dataset collected in Europe in 2021 among more than 12,000 representative respondents of European SMEs. The results show that a higher awareness of cyber risk correlates with fewer cybercrime incidents. However, increased cybersecurity training results in increased reporting of cybercrime incidents. This suggests that increased training improves detection capabilities or that companies’ responses to cybercrime incidents are typically reactive. Increased digitalization is associated with a rise in cybercrime incidents. Therefore, recommended cybersecurity strategies for SMEs include ongoing cybersecurity training programs and the cultivation of a proactive cybersecurity culture to effectively mitigate risks.