With the increased use of technology across all sectors of business, the risk of cyber attacks grows by the year. Over the last few years, other factors have made the threat even worse; the COVID pandemic forced more businesses to rely on their IT networks even more as more people work from home, a trend that isn’t going away. In addition, political instability and conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine, have led to more attacks on infrastructure companies. However, small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) find themselves more exposed to these threats than large ones, with 58% of CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers) of these organizations saying they feel more at risk than larger enterprises. This is despite big corporations presenting more inviting targets. But what are the reasons for this?
IT Challenges for SMBs
Lower Security Budgets
The CISOs in the study mentioned above all had five or fewer people in their teams, which obviously comes with a smaller budget than the larger corporations give their CISOs. This means a lack of resources for acquiring the latest technologies and time constraints on researching the latest threats and how to counter them. In many small organizations, the CISO may have no staff at all or even be performing their duties on a part-time basis.
Lack of Cyber Skills
Smaller budgets often mean employing less experienced staff. And even when SMBs can use experienced cybersecurity staff, they may find it tough to keep them up to date by sending them on the latest courses, either through a lack of funds to do so or because they can’t afford to lose their people for the days required.
Cyber Criminals See SMBs as More Vulnerable to Attack
According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, 46% of cyber attacks are on organizations with fewer than 1,000 employees. This is because hackers know these businesses don’t have the resources or budgets that large corporations do. Therefore, although the rewards may not be as great, their chances of a successful breach are higher. In addition, ransomware is one of the criminals’ favored weapons, with 87% of these attacks occurring at businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees and 37% at those with fewer than 100. These attacks can cripple SMBs and even put them out of business altogether.
Increasing Sophistication in Cyber Attacks
Cyber attacks and the defenses to fight them are a continual arms race. And it’s a race that SMBs are ill-equipped to win. Increasingly sophisticated attacks come not just through networked company computers but also devices connected to the IoT (Internet of Things), such as security cameras or manufacturing equipment. One attack was even reported as coming through a thermostat in a fish tank. Although SMBs embrace these technologies to make life easier, they are not always prepared for the consequences to their IT security.
Solutions to the Risk of Cyber Attacks on SMBs
While SMBs are now particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks, there are ways to keep the risks to a minimum. These include:
- Keep things simple. SMBs can make their IT easier to manage and secure by reducing what they use. For example, rather than using several databases for different things, keep everything in one, preferably supplied and maintained via a trusted provider.
- Staff training. If your staff is trained in the basics of cyber security, breaches are much less likely. Most cyber-attacks happen when someone clicks something that, with a bit of training, they will know they shouldn’t.
- Subcontract to specialists. Although this might look expensive, specialist organizations maintain all the know-how needed to prevent most cyberattacks, and using them frees SMB employees to concentrate on the core business.
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