SMEs could be putting their business at risk if they do not have adequate IT security, one expert warns.
David Emm, a senior technology consultant at Kaspersky, pointed out that the potential impact went beyond the immediate impact of any cyber attack.
He said: "You're not just talking about a potential hit to your organisation internally; you're talking about ramifications externally in terms of a loss of confidence and so on."
Mr Emm advised that people use what he called a "layered approach" to IT security.
People should put in place packages such as firewalls and anti-spam and anti-virus software.
Data that was stored on mobile devices such as laptops needed to be encrypted, he added.
Research conducted by Websense found that 90 per cent of businesses had suffered a hacking attack in the past year.
It also found that 45 per cent of firms have had their systems infected by a virus in the same time period.
