Small Business Cyber Security

This guide has been developed to help small businesses protect themselves from the most common cyber security incidents.

Keeping your small business secure

A cyber security incident that impacts a small business can be devastating. Unfortunately, we see the impact of cyber security incidents each and every day, on individuals and small businesses.

Luckily, cyber security doesn’t have to be difficult. There are simple measures that, if understood and implemented, can significantly avoid or reduce the impact of the most common cyber security incidents.

We understand that owners and operators of small businesses don’t have much time to spend on understanding the complexities of the internet or establishing complicated responses to potential risks. But we also know that cyber security will underpin Australia’s economic prosperity, and will allow small businesses to grow, innovate, and find new ways of creating value for their customers.

While there are effective and inexpensive practices available to protect small and medium businesses against cyber security incidents, many businesses are unaware these practices exist.

Recognising this gap, the ACSC partnered with the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) in 2019 to design the ACSC Small Businesses Survey (the Survey) and capture a baseline understanding of cyber security practices and knowledge among Australian SMBs.

A summary and analysis of the Survey results are available: Cyber Security and Australian Small Business Survey Results (November 2020)

The data from the survey informed the development of tailored technical guidance to meet the needs and capabilities of Australian small and medium businesses to help protect them from cyber security incidents.

Specifically, data helped to tailor the security controls identified in technical guidance, the language used and the way that content was structured to maximise retention and impact in an effort to protect Australian SMBs.