Small Businesses- A target for Cyber Crime

Small Businesses- A target for Cyber Crime

Why criminals pick on small businesses?

Small businesses are targeted by cybercriminals because the automation makes it easier to attack. Many times a question arises that does the size of the business matter?  Well, according to Jody Westby, CEO of Global Cyber Risk says that data is what matters and not the size. Also, small business become target as it is said they are less secure and the automation technology today allows cybercriminals to produce mass attacks. Large enterprises have become much better defenders in terms of security thus, small ones are targeted. The Global State of Information Security Survey 2015 found that small firms with annual revenue less than $100 million, had cut spending on security by 20% in 2014 while medium and large firms whose annual revenue is between $100 million to $999 million had increased security investments by 5%.

Symantec reports say that 43% of cyber-attacks last year were targeted at small businesses. The attackers steal information and rob bank accounts, steal customer’s personal information, health insurance frauds, or even steal intellectual property.  Scott Mann, CEO of Orlando based Highforge Solutions said that there are 20 different ways the hackers can get into a website. This statement means that the websites can be attacked by different methods of which 20 are known.

How the attackers do it?

The attackers use phishing, spoofing, malware and such attacks to exploit the systems. Also, automated scripts are used to perform the attacks which makes things much easier for them, as it’s a notion that smaller business have less security measures implemented.

What are the ways businesses can protect themselves?

Cyber security must be considered as everyone’s responsibility. As data breaches and cyber security incidents continue to grow. One should consider the following points to protect themselves against such attacks. Understand the risks involved and know about the current threats and frauds such as everything from phishing and spoofing scams, malware, systems hacking and everything.  A security policy must be defined and employees must be educated about the warnings and safe practices and response to suspects. Software’s must be kept up to date as this will guard against latest threat and keep the infrastructure secure. Also, an incident response plan must be drafted and practiced.
One in five small and mid-sized businesses reported that they were hit by cyber-attacks. According to Inc. Magazine, 71 percent of all data breaches target small businesses.  Thus, proper security measures must be implemented even by small firms to protect themselves from the increasing cyber attacks.