Almost half of Australia’s SMEs are ill-prepared for escalating malicious data breaches, potentially exposing them to significant financial loss and reputational damage.

IT consultant Allcom Networks has created a nine-point checklist to help businesses prepare for strikes by cyber criminals.

“Most companies take a reactive approach to security, usually only thinking about it after a cyber crime or data breach has occurred, which could see them exposed financially and reputationally,” GM Mark Mantakoul said.

Hackers have intercepted emails, manipulated invoices and redirected payments to their own accounts, and companies are increasingly compromised by ransomware or data breaches.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman reports that 44% of businesses are not fully equipped to deal with data breaches.

Allcom’s Data Breach Readiness Solution is designed to prevent and reduce the damage of data breaches.

Recent amendments to the Privacy Act mean serious or repeated breaches can incur penalties of $10 million, three times any benefit obtained through misuse of information or 10% of a company’s turnover.

Allcom’s nine-step cyber protection checklist can be accessed here.