Survey to explore preparedness of EU SMEs for cybersecurity challenges

Submitted by Lee Gibson on 23 July 2020

The European Union (EU) Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA,  has launched a two-month public survey for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to share their state of digital security and preparedness for crises such as COVID-19.

The survey asks respondents to identify their main cybersecurity challenges and their level of preparedness to cope with the most common threats. It is addressed to individual owners and employees of EU SMEs, as well as to SME associations at both Member State and EU levels. The survey is open until 15 September (12:00 CET).

Findings will be published later this year in the form of a good practice guide. This will provide advice that will focus on how businesses can successfully overcome digital challenges in a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and how they can better prepare themselves for similar crises in the future.

According to the European Commission (EC), SMEs, defined as having less than 250 employees and turnover up tp €50 million, make up 99% of all businesses in the EU. Clearly, an important driver for innovation and growth across the Union, SMEs are a priority for the economic policies of EU governments.

This year, ENISA is working to increase the resilience of EU SMEs in the face of crises such as COVID-19.

Within this scope, the Agency plans to analyse the ability of EU SMEs to cope with cybersecurity issues in different crises and to provide recommendations on good practices. Cybersecurity topics such as how to handle phishing campaigns or how to mitigate ransomware attacks will be included in the recommendations in this forthcoming work.

Access and take part in the Survey on cybersecurity challenges for SMEs here.

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