Cybersecurity is a critical concern for all organisations in today’s digital landscape, butespecially for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This thesis investigates the maincyber threats currently relevant for small to medium sized companies as well as whatchallenges these types of companies face in implementing effective cybersecurity measures.Another aim was to identify strategies to help SMEs overcome these challenges and enhancetheir protection against cyberthreats.The data collection method chosen for this thesis was semi-structured interviews based on acomprehensive literature review and with a total of six knowledgeable people in the field. Theresults showed that social engineering and phishing, web-based attacks, malware, maliciousinsiders as well as denial-of-service attacks were the most common cyberthreats faced bySMEs in the last few years. Challenges SMEs face was related to a tendency to underestimatethe risk by management and personnel as well as a general lack of knowledge and awarenessat the companies. Other challenges were resource and technological issues. To protect theirbusiness, most interview participants recommended following a standard like the ones fromthe ISO/IEC 27000 family or an alternative like the SSF 1101. Inventory and risk assessment isrecommended as the first step to take along with hiring employees specifically qualified incybersecurity or taking help from consultants.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kau-99991 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Paleczek, Anna-Maria |
| Publisher | Karlstads universitet, Handelshögskolan (from 2013) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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