Mastercard's Cybersecurity Assessment Tool: A Small and Medium-sized Business Lifeline

Did you know that cybercrime damage is predicted to hit $10.5 trillion annually by 2025 across the globe?¹ Let that number sink in. As technology advances, cybersecurity threats have become more prevalent than ever.

Based on 2023 data from Statistics Canada, about 1 in 6 (16%) Canadian businesses were impacted by cyber security incidents.² Small and medium-sized businesses, often with limited resources and expertise, are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks such as phishing, malware, ransomware and more.

If you’re a small or medium-sized business trying to understand the implications of cyber threats and looking for tools to protect your business from cyberattacks, Mastercard^® has one for you.

Our partners at Mastercard have developed a complementary Cybersecurity Assessment Tool to help evaluate your current cybersecurity knowledge and familiarity with best practices, providing you with a report including valuable insights and actionable recommendations to help strengthen your defences.

The Cybersecurity Assessment Tool is an interactive tool that helps you to assess your cybersecurity knowledge. The quiz consists of a series of questions that cover various aspects of cybersecurity, including:

• Network security: Questions about firewalls and cyberattack detection systems.
• Endpoint security: Topics such as antivirus software and mobile device security.
• Data security: Questions about data encryption, access controls, and data backup.
• Cloud security: Topics such as cloud infrastructure security, data privacy, and compliance.
• Cybersecurity awareness: Questions about employee training, phishing prevention, and social engineering.

By answering these questions, you can help get a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses in cybersecurity and what opportunities you have to better protect your operations moving forward.

3 Key Benefits of the Cybersecurity Assessment Quiz:

1. Free and Easy to Use

• Accessibility: The quiz is complementary and is readily available online, making it convenient for your business to access.
• Quick and simple: The quiz has 15 multiple choice questions and is designed to be completed in a short amount of time (under a minute), allowing you to quickly assess where you stand in terms of cybersecurity maturity.

2. Comprehensive Assessment

• Thorough and in-depth: The quiz covers a wide range of cybersecurity topics, ensuring that you can identify potential opportunities across different areas of your operations.
• Risk identification: By addressing various aspects of cybersecurity, the quiz helps you to understand the full scope of your security risks.
• Starting point: The quiz can serve as a baseline assessment, providing a snapshot of your cybersecurity understanding and how to improve further by following the recommendations.

3. Personalized Results

• Tailored insights: The quiz generates a customized report that highlights the specific strengths and opportunities, helping you to further develop a robust cybersecurity program for your business.
• Actionable recommendations: The report provides targeted recommendations based on the identified areas for improvement, helping guide your business towards effective security measures.
• Prioritization: The recommendations help your business prioritize your security efforts, focusing on the most critical gaps first.
• Practical guidance: The recommendations offer practical advice on implementing security measures, such as selecting appropriate fraud prevention tools, configuring settings, and training employees.

Why is Cybersecurity Important for Small and Medium-sized Businesses?

Statistics paint a grim picture of the cybersecurity landscape for small and medium-sized businesses:

• Frequent targets: Small and medium-sized businesses are often the primary targets of cyberattacks due to their perceived lack of robust security measures. Only 14% of small and medium-sized businesses can mitigate cyber risks and vulnerabilities—with 47% lacking the understanding to protect themselves from cyberattacks.³
• Devastating consequences: Data breaches can lead to financial losses, reputational damage, and even business closure. Six months after a cyberattack, 60% of small and medium-sized enterprises go out of business. This outcome arises mainly because small and medium-sized businesses spend significant amounts of money remediating the cyber-attack coupled with reputational damage and downtime.⁴
• Limited resources: Many small and medium-sized businesses struggle to allocate sufficient resources to cybersecurity, making them more susceptible to threats. Small and medium-sized businesses typically spend less than $500 annually on cybersecurity, leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks that can cost thousands or even millions to remedy. ⁵

Mastercard's Cybersecurity Assessment Tool is a valuable resource for small and medium-sized businesses looking to help protect themselves against cyber threats. By identifying risks, prioritizing security efforts, and providing actionable recommendations, the tool can help small and medium-sized businesses build a more resilient and secure digital infrastructure.

Mastercard also offers additional tools and advice for small and medium-sized businesses through the Mastercard Trust Centre.

For more information about Moneris’ fraud prevention tools, click here.

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1-https://cybersecurityventures.com/top-5-cybersecurity-facts-figures-predictions-and-statistics-for-2021-to-2025/

2-https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241021/dq241021a-eng.htm

3-https://smallbiztrends.com/small-business-cybersecurity/

4-https://www.stationx.net/cyber-attacks-on-small-businesses-statistics/

5-https://smallbiztrends.com/small-business-cybersecurity/

Author Profile

Niyati Budhiraja

Social and Community Engagement Specialist

Niyati Budhiraja is a word nerd who turns tricky business talk into fun, simple and genuinely helpful content. She writes features on inspiring Canadian businesses, crafts easy-to-follow guides and shares smart tips to help small businesses feel confident and supported. When she’s not writing or dreaming up her next blog idea, you’ll likely find her hunting down the city’s best hot chocolate.