A survey investigating the technological difficulties faced by small businesses has revealed that one in ten are concerned about loss of confidential data.

Despite this 83 per cent of respondents claim not to have been a victim of electronic crime over the past 12 months.

YouGov research commissioned by Trend Micro, the firms which carried out the survey, state that small businesses are being increasingly targeted by electronic crime attacks, however many of these could be going unnoticed owning to a small business' lack of resources or systems to protect themselves.

Paul Burke, SMB product marketing manager EMEA, at Trend Micro, said: "Information technology problems top the list of everyday anxieties for small businesses."

He added that more needs to be done to inform the small business community about the new security threats which could attack their IT infrastructure at great cost both financially and in terms of reputation.

In a separate survey Trend Micro also established that small businesses are more likely to have staff who put their employers at risk of an IT security breach.