December 20, 2024
Many smaller organizations don’t consider themselves to be a target of cybercriminals. The “we’re too small to be worth it” mindset may be somewhat true for many forms of crime, but unlike most physical security threats, the most common cyberattacks are executed in bulk quickly and easily. Many small victims add up to big payouts.
In fact, cybercrime is now more profitable than the illegal drug trade. What’s worse, many smaller organizations aren’t equipped with the same robust cybersecurity defenses as their enterprise-scale counterparts, and hackers know it.
Fortunately, most attacks can be foiled with some basic cybersecurity awareness and hygiene, if only small businesses invested in them.
The 5 Most Common Security Threats for Small Businesses
Most big attacks start out small and only take a careless click or two to spring into action. Make sure your staff is trained to watch out for these top five threats:
- Phishing
- Ransomware
- Weak Credentials
- Insider Threats
- Outdated Equipment
I’ll explore each of these in more detail, including ways you can stop these attacks before they do real damage.
1. Phishing
“Your account has been suspended due to suspicion of fraud. Please verify your account immediately to restore access.”
Would you fall for this? How about an amazing offer that’s too good to be true? Don’t be too sure you wouldn’t get sucked in. Many people think they’re not likely to fall for phishing scams, but 61% of Americans are actually highly susceptible to phishing. Phishing is the root cause of 90% of data breaches, and it often comes in the form of a “helpful” warning from a trusted contact or company. However, in reality, it’s designed to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information or downloading a malicious file.
You can easily avoid being caught in a phishing scheme by following the comprehensive tips listed here. However, we all have careless moments from time to time, and some phishing schemes are more difficult to spot than others. In addition to a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to offers, warnings, and links, we recommend excellent email protection tools like Barracuda and ongoing security awareness training from KnowBe4, which has a proven track record of reducing your staff’s phishing susceptibility over time.
2. Ransomware
Malware (including ransomware) is malicious code that can be used to steal or destroy your data or gain entry into your network. Malware can infect your devices through a link, a download, or through another infected device.
Antivirus software definitely helps, but it’s not enough. As this software has gotten better at blocking malware, cybercriminals have also learned how to write malicious code into a native scripting language or a computer’s RAM to avoid detection.
Once again, a healthy dose of skepticism goes a long way. Be careful before clicking on any links, apply updates promptly, only use known networks, and monitor your system and network for any unauthorized use.
3. Weak Credentials
Have you ever used Password1, Iloveyou, 123456, qwerty, or another easily guessed combination as your password? About 24% of Americans have. Don’t be one of them. It’s also important not to reuse passwords, tempting though it may be. That way, even if a hacker gets ahold of one of your passwords, that same password doesn’t open everything else.
Passwords can be frustrating, but a business password management tool can help you ensure that your staff is using strong passwords and make password management much easier. Multi-factor authentication can also reduce the risk of attackers getting into business accounts through a weak password. Just do your homework — some criminals are able to bypass some forms of multifactor authentication.
4. Insider Threats
The biggest threat to your organization might not be some unknown cybercriminal. It might be someone that works for you or with you. In fact, 30% of all data breaches in 2020 were the result of insiders. Unfortunately, insider threats are tougher to detect, and they typically do more damage. This isn’t to suggest that your staff is purposely out to do your organization any harm, although that also happens. But in the world of cybersecurity, even simple carelessness can be costly.
One way to protect yourself from insider threats is to adopt zero trust architecture throughout your organization. Basically, that just means making sensitive systems and data only accessible to staff who need it, and constantly verifying that a user is who they say they are. It’s also important not to ignore the physical security of your workplace. This blog contains helpful tips on how to protect your workplace from common on-premises threats.
5. Outdated Equipment
The past few years have been difficult for a lot of businesses that have had to make quite a few expensive updates very quickly. It’s very tempting to try to hang on to outdated equipment, but organizations that have outdated infrastructure can get themselves into a lot of trouble.
Not only can old devices cost you more than they’re worth, but they are often not equipped with security features that can stand up to a modern cybercriminals.
Business Security Tips at-a-Glance
Just skimming? No judgement! If you just want a quick list of security tips for 2025 and beyond, here’s what every organization — no matter how small — should be doing:
- Implement regular security awareness training
- Maintain current backups of all critical data
- Use multi-factor authentication across all systems - and all privileged accounts
- Keep software and systems updated
- Develop, maintain, and test an incident response plan (IRP)
- Consider cybersecurity insurance
Some of these tips are easier to implement than others! If you’re having difficulty figuring out where to start, reach out for help from an IT security pro. Many managed IT providers will offer assistance for IT projects as well as specialized consulting services — including fractional chief informational security officers (often referred to as vCISOs). It may also be time to consider moving to a managed IT solution.
Additional Help With Small Business Cybersecurity
It may not seem like it, but cybersecurity has come a long way, and getting hacked isn’t inevitable with some basic precautions and best practices. Cybercriminals tend to be opportunistic — seeking a quick and easy payout with the least amount of effort. Just like most other security threats, if you don’t make it harder for them to hack you, they’re likely to move on to an easier target.
That said, if you’re still operating without dedicated IT staff, it’s probably not sufficient anymore to rely on that one office person with a few additional computer skills. If adding full-time IT staff is out of your budget, there’s another option: Managed IT can provide enterprise-scale IT and security help without the expense of additional full-time staff.
At Marco, we price our services per user, so small organizations can still easily afford our top US-based staff of 650 certified systems engineers and technical representatives. We can supply all of the expertise and the infrastructure you need to keep your technology up and running and your data safe.
That said, managed IT isn’t the right solution for everyone! Use our checklist to see if it’s the right time for your business to consider working with an outside provider.
