Did you know that 60% of small businesses that suffer a cyber attack go out of business within half a year? You might think that it’s rare for a cyber attack to impact a small business, but you would be mistaken.
Further research indicates that 45% of SMBs suffered cyber attacks in the last year. Essentially, there’s a 50/50 chance that you’ll be the target of a cyber attack.
Many smaller organizations misguidedly believe that cyber criminals won’t target them. They think that, because they have less money and less data, hackers aren’t interested. This is far from the case.
Any and all data is of interest to hackers. Moreover, these days, hackers have tools at their disposal to automate their attacks. This means that they can attack many businesses at once and companies with weak security defenses are more likely to fall victim.
In the world of cybercrime, knowledge is power. The best way to defend your company is to get clued up on the most common threats out there – and arm yourself with correlating defenses.
To help you, here are the top cyber threats you need to know about in 2022.
1) Phishing Attacks
In a phishing attack, a hacker sends a fraudulent email to their victim, posing as a trusted person or company – like a bank, healthcare organization or technology brand.
The email will either contain a malicious attachment that is riddled with malware or a link that encourages the victim to share sensitive details, like a credit card number or a password.
Phishing attacks are a huge threat to companies of all sizes. They account for 9 in 10 data breaches today – and have contributed to $12 billion in company financial losses.
Some phishing emails are easy to detect even to the untrained eye. They’ll have lots of spelling mistakes, come from an unknown address and have a weird sense of urgency.
However, many hackers are also becoming more deceptive in their tactics, crafting eerily realistic emails that are hard to spot until it’s too late.
To defend against phishing, you need to take a holistic approach. This involves:
- Training your employees regularly on the latest phishing scams
- Using an email security gateway to prevent phishing attacks for landing in your employees’ inboxes
- Putting a process in place to help employees report suspected phishing scams so they can be further inspected and dealt with securely
For more information on email security, read our comprehensive guide.
2) Malware Attacks
Malware stands for malicious software. It refers to a class of security threat that relies on malicious code. Trojans and viruses fall into this category.
There are hundreds of malware variants – each of which operates differently. Most aim for the same outcome, though: either to steal sensitive data, destroy it or cause business disruption.
Malware can enter your network in a number of ways: emails, dodgy WiFi networks, malicious adverts and contaminated USB ports can all lead to malware attacks.
In the worst-case scenario, a malware attack can take your business offline, disrupting day-to-day operations and putting your relationship with your customers at risk.
To protect against malware attacks, you need to look at deploying a few security solutions, including endpoint protection, malware scanning and a web security solution.
Moreover, these aren’t solutions that you can just install and then leave to run. You’ll need to monitor and review your security deployments to ensure they remain correctly configured – and also to deal with any suspected malware infections the solutions have caught and put into quarantine.
3) Ransomware
Ransomware is a form of malware – but it gets its own point as it is such a huge threat to businesses. A ransomware attack can cost SMB around $133,000 to recover their files. This is enough to put many companies out of business!
Ransomware works by encrypting access to your precious data and files, effectively locking your employees out of their devices. To get access back, you’ll need to pay a hefty ransom in cryptocurrency. If you don’t, you’ll lose your data forever!
One of the easiest ways to defend against ransomware is to backup your files to the cloud. That way, if you get hit by an attack, you won’t feel pressured to pay the ransom as your data will be safe elsewhere.
You should also put preventative measures in place, including strong endpoint protection and anti-malware scanning.
4) Weak Passwords
One of the most simple but effective tactics cyber criminals use is credentials compromise. This is where an attacker manages to guess the password of one of your employees, and then logs in to their account.
From there, they can steal sensitive data, commit fraud or launch a malware attack.
The good news is that it is easy to defend against this threat vector. Firstly, put a policy in place that mandates your employees to use strong, unique passwords for each of their accounts.
If your employees are concerned about remembering different passwords, encourage them to use a free, online password manager.
As well as this, we advise you to implement multi-factor authentication. This works by asking employees to verify themselves with an additional measure beyond a password before they can access their accounts.
That way, if a hacker manages to guess an employee’s password, they still won’t be able to break into their account.
Feeling Overwhelmed? We Can Help!
The sheer breadth of cyber threats out there is enough to make any SMB leader feel overwhelmed. Finding, deploying and managing a fleet of security solutions – at the right price – might seem like shooting for the stars.
But it doesn’t have to be. By outsourcing your security function, you can protect your business from the latest threats – and take the burden of cybersecurity off your shoulders.
If you’re serious about working with a new security support partner to improve your business and contribute to long-term growth, this is your next step. Book a 15 minute, no obligation video call with me via this link.