An important piece of digitalization is cybersecurity, in other words, the ability to protect against, detect and respond to cyber-attacks that happen on a daily basis. These attacks can target computers, servers, networks, systems, etc. to obtain valuable information for the company, obtain financial benefits or simply to frighten and prevent the proper functioning of companies.

Some very interesting data that help us to better understand the online security situation of SMEs and put it in perspective are that:

• 70% of cyber-attacks in Spain target SMEs. ⁽¹⁾
• SMEs take an average of 212 days to identify an attack and 75 days more to contain it. ⁽²⁾
• The average cost of a cyber-attack in Spain is 35,000 euros. ⁽³⁾
• 60% of SMEs that are victims of severe cyber-attacks disappear within 6 months of the incident. ⁽³⁾
• 99.8% of Spanish SMEs do not consider themselves an attractive target for a cyberattack. ⁽³⁾
• 91% of cyber-attacks start with a phishing email. ⁽⁴⁾

Good news for Spanish SMEs is the launch of "El Kit Digital", a new aid package for the digitalization of SMEs, microenterprises and self-employed workers in Spain. This means that if you have an SME with less than 50 employees, you can apply for this aid and protect your company from cyber-attacks. This Digital Kit is part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the "Digital Spain" program and one of its great advantages is that the European Union funds it.

How can an SME qualify for these grants?

If your SME has between 10 and 49 employees, you can apply directly here; fill in the form and Santander offers to process your voucher at no cost.

If your SME has between 1 and 9 employees, you will be able to apply for your grants as they are announced by Red.es from June onwards. In the meantime, we recommend that you also sign up on the platform to keep abreast of the dates of activation of grants for SMEs of your size.

• SMEs with 3-9 employees: Grants active before summer.
• SMEs with 1 to 2 employees: Grants active after the summer.
• If your SME has more than 50 employees, Santander can help you find other grants applicable to your business.

Cyber Guardian, your SME with the protection of the big corporations

Cyber Guardian is a very practical solution that provides small and medium-sized companies with a corporate-level protection method, but at an affordable cost for any business. Companies that choose Cyber Guardian in their Digital Kit will be able to assess their cybersecurity exposure, protect their devices, emails and browsing, and obtain evidence of ethical phishing and cyber awareness messages. All this in a single platform where they can operate without any technical expertise.

_{(1) Guardia Civil. https://www.larazon.es/espana/20201006/hmmuqicshfegrckxt4yzdpqpr4.html  
(2) Ponemon Institute, 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021. Ponemon Institute. IBM Security. 2021 
(3) Google:  La ciberseguridad en España. Google. 2019
(4) Deloitte https://www2.deloitte.com/my/en/pages/risk/articles/91-percent-of-all-cyber-attacks-begin-with-a-phishing-email-to-an-unexpected-victim.html}