A recent survey of over 2,100 executives at small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) by computer security company Symantec shows the growing awareness of data vulnerability. In fact, execs at those SMBs declared that data protection has become their #1 IT priority.

The results show a big movement from earlier Symantec surveys, Even last year, the survey found that one third of all companies surveyed did not even have basic antivirus protection installed through the in-house network. This year, 73% reported an attempted cyber-attack over the past year, and 30% report that the attacks caused serious data breaches.

The survey this year found that companies are upping their spending on data protection, now spending an average of $51,000 a year — not an insignificant sum in a small business — and dedicating more It staff time to security related tasks (up to 2/3 of all time spent).

Also,  90% of companies surveyed stated that they now have a written disaster recovery plan, even if it’s an inadequate, out-of-date one.

The survey also reported that almost 25% of companies report loss of mobile equipment, including smartphones and laptops.

Overall, the survey reflects an increasing threat level that has reached from major corporations and governments to SMBs that had little awareness of the threat a few years ago. Many companies have freely collected and shared data — now they face the even more daunting task of keeping that data out of the hands of others.

Tags: data protection, disaster recovery, survey, Symantec