Cyber Attacks Against SMBs – Questions & Answers
As a business owner, you care about all aspects of your business and rightfully focus on the day-to-day activities that grow your business. With all of the responsibilities you already have, are you also able to focus on protecting yourself against a potential cyber attack?
Consider that only 14% of small business owners are prepared to defend themselves. Maintaining a secure infrastructure can be challenging for small businesses. And many choose to partner with a managed security provider to build a cyber security plan to protect their business against cyber threats.
To understand more about cyber attacks, cyber criminals, and cyber threats, we’ve put together this Q&A of commonly asked questions.
Who are the hackers?
There are different types of hackers, and they have different motivations. Still, their overriding similarity is that they want to steal your data, harm your system or somehow cause disruption with your business.
Are cyber attacks targeted?
Most cyber attacks are untargeted attacks, including phishing, water holing, ransomware, or scanning. Targeted attacks, in which the hacker is focused on your organization, include techniques such as spear-phishing, deploying a botnet, or subverting the supply chain.
Why do they target businesses?
Hackers target small and midsize businesses primarily because they are easy targets. They are limited with the IT resources necessary to protect themselves against cyber threats, yet they have valuable customer data that hackers want.
What is the impact on businesses from cyber attacks?
Cyber attacks have an enormous impact on businesses, especially small- and medium-sized businesses. Consider these outcomes:
- 25% of small business cyber attack incidents resulted in data disclosure. 80% of breaches occurred because of system intrusion, miscellaneous employee errors, and basic web application attacks.
- 37% of SMBs are planning to purchase cyber security services over the next 6 months.
- The cost to small businesses for cyber attacks in 2021 could range from a few thousand to close to $400K.
- 60% of small business owners close within 6 months of a cyber attack.
What is the most common type of cyber attack?
Phishing attacks are the most common cyber attacks against SMBs and account for more than 30% of attacks against small organizations. Phishing involves sending emails disguised as legitimate emails asking for sensitive personal information or providing a link to a fake website.
What industries do cyber attackers target?
Cyber attacks will target almost any industry if they think there’s an opening that they can access. In 2020, the hardest-hit sectors for ransomware were:
- Government
- Manufacturing
- Services
- Education
- Healthcare
What cyber attacks are the hardest to prevent?
Insider attacks are the hardest to detect and prevent. These attacks are from within the organization. They may be a current or former employee or officer in the company, a consultant, business partner, or board member, and they can be malicious or accidental.
Why are employees usually targeted?
With most employees working remotely in 2020, hackers found a new way into the corporate network through virtual private networks (VPNs) and voice phishing. Find out how they are doing this.
What do cyber attackers want?
- Personal information of employees and clients
- Corporate data
- Network control
- Intellectual property information
How can a cyber attack be prevented?
There are some best practices you should implement for basic security to protect your network and data. For more complex security measures, you should partner with a managed IT services and security provider.
Visual Edge specializes in managed IT services and security, cloud computing, and print/copy solutions for businesses across the U.S., including remote offices. The company has more than 20-years of technology service with a national network of expert engineers. Request your no-obligation assessment today and get a free dark web analysis.
