Roughly 43 percent of midsize businesses have suffered IT security breaches and data breaches in the past three years, and 13 percent have had a supplier's data breach impact their business information, according to The Hartford’s survey of midsize business owners and C-level executives.
The Hartford survey found most midsize business leaders (82 percent) consider a data breach at least a minor risk to their business. Nearly one-third (32 percent) view it as a major risk.
As a result, midmarket companies are spending more time evaluating whether their IT service providers have ample security expertise. For example:
- More than half of the midsize business leaders (53 percent) surveyed consider IT security and data protection practices very important when selecting a supplier.
- By comparison, 36 percent consider a supplier’s contingency planning and 28 percent view a supplier’s location relative to their business as very important.
The late-2014 survey involved more than 500 owners and C-level executives of midsize businesses headquartered in the U.S. with annual sales or revenues of $10 million to $1 billion.
