The research – part of AVG's latest SMB market landscape report – shows that 30% of businesses have a Facebook profile, followed by 19% for LinkedIn and 17% for Twitter.
On the tablet computing front, meanwhile, 10% of SMBs said are using tablets, with 34% using social networking sites for business, and just 27% view the use of mobile phones in business as a threat to IT security.
This is reflected, Infosecurity notes, in the fact that small numbers of firms are using antivirus or internet security for smartphones (16%) or offerings for mobile workers (2%).
The report concludes that SMBs are embracing technologies to increase levels of mobility, best represented by the increase in tablet devices with a corresponding decline in laptop use, few are aware of the potential security risks that accompany this technology.
Almost three quarters of SMBs do not agree that the use of mobile phones in business may represent a threat to IT security. SMBs also recognise the opportunities which social networking offers their companies to promote their business and engage with customers.
While the majority of SMBs remain focused on the more traditional threats to IT security - such as email and web viruses – the report says they are becoming aware of new ways in which their organisational security can be compromised, including theft of information and social engineering.
SMBs, says the AVG analysis, often only realise the true cost of IT security breaches after experiencing one. Those who have experienced a breach are more likely to have seen the longer-term impacts such as a loss of sales and revenue opportunities and the man hours lost from reacting to a breach.