Vodafone calls for new cybersecurity policies to promote small business recovery

Vodafone has asked the Government to further protect small and medium-sized businesses by providing more support to the National Cyber Security Centre and making cybersecurity protections more accessible.

A report published today, ‘Protecting our SMEs: cybersecurity in the new world of work’, states that the UK’s economic recovery from Covid-19 is at risk if new policy recommendations are not introduced in line with the new risks that have emerged in the last 12 months. 

According to the Federation of Small Businesses, SMEs account for 99.9% of the UK’s 6 million private sector businesses. This means they employ three fifths of the UK’s workforce. The policy recommendations would provide much-needed support for a critical component of the UK economy. 

While much has already been done to support the development of the cybersecurity segment in the UK, Vodafone believes the next step should be to create policy that supports SMEs directly. As the risks are constantly evolving, Government policy for cybersecurity should also.

The report makes the case for several policy recommendations, including a reduced 5% VAT rate on cybersecurity products, as well as additional investment and resources for the National Cyber Security Centre to expand a dedicated unit for cybersecurity for business to help secure recovery for SMEs.

Vodafone believes the positive relationship between the National Cyber Security Centre and private industry has led to the UK having a world-leading cybersecurity industry.  The expansion of a SME-dedicated unit would build on these foundations, enabling small businesses to further enjoy the benefits of this leadership position.

On the brink of collapse

The recommendations were prompted by polling for the report which found that 1.3 million SMEs in the UK would collapse if they fell victim to a cyber-attack. A successful cyber-attack has an average cost of £3,230; 23% of SMEs polled said that they could not survive a loss of this scale.

Pre-Covid-19, cyber-attacks cost the UK economy £34 billion a year.  But this report finds that almost a third of SMEs (31%) have seen an increase in attacks since the beginning of the first lockdown in March 2020 – so this figure may now be even higher.