This archived TechRepublic Premium report, originally published in August 2016, is available for free to registered TechRepublic members. For all the latest research reports, 100+ ready-made policies, IT job descriptions, and more, check out TechRepublic Premium.

This report was part of a special ZDNet feature, Cyberwar and the Future of Cybersecurity
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About the report:

In May 2016, TechRepublic Premium conducted an online survey to find out what cybersecurity threats scare companies the most. Overall, respondents seemed more concerned about run-of-the-mill security breaches than acts of cyberwarfare. Almost half of people who took the survey came from small businesses, with 50 or fewer employees, and report author Jack Wallen pointed out the common misperception that small businesses don’t get targeted by cybercriminals. “Although most cyberwarfare attacks have much larger targets in mind, it is not beyond the realm of the possible that smaller targets are used as stepping stones to their ultimate goal,” Wallen said.

When asked what they felt was their company’s weakest security link, 45% of employees chose mobile devices. This is not a surprising finding, given the widespread use of smartphones, laptops, tablets and wearable devices in the workplace. In a TechRepublic Premium survey on mobile security earlier in 2016, 47% of respondents reported that almost all employees at their company used either company-provided or personal devices for work purposes. Respondents to that survey also reported inconsistent use of security measures like user authentication, data encryption and device management software.

To solve the problem of securing mobile devices, and many other reported “weak links” like wireless networks and employee data, respondents said the key was education of end users and management. Education, plus the solution of researching policies and best practices beat out other strategies to tackle weak links like migrating systems to a more secure platform or provider or purchasing more secure hardware. To find out more, download the full report.