Think your small business doesn’t face cyber threats?
Cyber threats are a rapidly increasing problem for small businesses and small non-commercial entities.
Why Are Hackers Targeting SMBs?
Hackers view SMBs (small and mid-sized businesses) as easy targets because their cybersecurity focus and budget are often lacking.
Once compromised, most SMBs will oblige the hacker, which makes it easy to monetize their minimal effort (see below).
The Attackers Have Never Heard of Your Business
Most attacks are conducted robotically, meaning attackers launch software that scans the web, looking for vulnerabilities. While the hacker’s software seeks targets, the hacker takes his cat bungee jumping.
Hackers aren’t looking for your company. They haven’t heard of your company. They may not even speak English. But once their software finds your network or website and detects a vulnerability, they will capitalize on it.
Small Town Victimized
Consider this recent story about the little town (population 12,000) of Lake City, Florida, from Zerohedge;
Florida City Pays $462,000 In Ransom After Second Cyberattack Cripples City’s Infrastructure
“Lake City’s council … will be paying about $462,000 via Bitcoin, by way of the city’s insurer. This payment follows a similar incident in Riviera Beach, a city of 34,000 near West Palm Beach, where the city’s council authorized a similar $600,000 ransom payment.
The city council at Lake City met in emergency session to authorize allocating a half million of their residents’ tax dollars to pay the ransom. “
Small Businesses and Organizations
Similar attacks are launched daily against small businesses and non-profits in the U.S. and around the globe. Small businesses are the NUMBER ONE target of online attacks, and the problem is worsening.
According to 4IQ.com, in their 2019 Identity Breach Report:
“Cybercriminals shifted their focus, targeting more small businesses, resulting in a 424% increase in authentic and new breaches from 2017.”
Translation: If hackers haven’t compromised your website or your LAN (local area network) yet, they are almost certainly trying, probably daily. Expect hackers around the globe to continue increasing their efforts to penetrate your internal network and your website.
According to Keeper Security’s 2018 State of Cybersecurity in Small & Medium Size Businesses (SMBs)
“More companies have experienced ransomware attacks (61 percent of respondents vs. 52 percent of respondents in 2017) and 70 percent of respondents in these companies report that the ransom was paid. The average payment in these cases was $1,466.”
Secure Your Website and Network
A knowledgeable webmaster can prevent most website attacks and restore your site quickly, if necessary.
If your office uses a local area network, establish a relationship with a cybersecurity expert before you experience a breach.
And finally, harden your passwords.
Featured image courtesy of Michael Geiger
