ICT Adoption and Cyber Security of Korean SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) continue to adopt ICT to gain an edge in organizational innovation and competition. This has a management advantage, but it also brings vulnerabilities as to cyber security. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conduct an exploratory study on the cyber security situation of SMEs. A survey was conducted on Korean SMEs to determine how well they are connected to ICT and how much they are exposed to cyber security threats. The results suggest two things. First, Korean SMEs are well connected to ICT, but there is a gap between the actual adoption and human recognition of its importance. Second, security threats and breaches affect the majority of SMEs, but several problems including costs have not been properly evaluated. The results of this study are expected to help improve the cyber security management system of Korean SMEs.