In this Sept. 24, 2010, file photo the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) prepares for the Cyber Storm III exercise at its operations center in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
(Bloomberg) – Hackers have made the Internet a scary place to do business, as recent headlines attest. Big companies have been hacked. Small companies have been hacked. As the Pew Research Internet Project reported earlier this week, cyberattacks are likely to get worse.
How much should a small business spend to protect against cyber villains? I asked Eric Montague, president of Executech, an IT firm in South Jordan, Utah, for an estimate. While the answer will vary, depending on the type of business—not to mention the relative optimism of its owner—Montague’s response offers a useful baseline: Some $57,600 a year for a 50-employee company.
Here’s how that estimate breaks down. Montague says his firm would typically recommend secure e-mail hosting at $12.95 per employee per month, an antivirus service costing $3 per employee per month, and online backup at 50¢ per gigabyte.
