43% of breaches in 2018 involved small businesses. Hackers know you’re vulnerable and they’re acting on it.
We’re big fans of the DBIR over here, not just because we’re contributing partners and want to see our name in lights. Yes, we’re certainly guilty of initially jumping into the contributor section and searching for our logo, but after that, we devour the data. The report in itself is an easy read, and there is also a DBIR executive summary available for those that want a short overview.
At GRA Quantum, we’re experts at developing tailored security solutions for small organizations facing big threats —and the data in this year’s DBIR show that the threats facing these orgs are only growing. 43% of breaches in 2018 involved small businesses. And that makes sense, when you take the threat actors’ POV into account. Nefarious attackers know that small and mid-size businesses don’t have the cyber hygiene that’s expected of enterprise organizations. Yet, the personally identifiable information (PII) and the intellectual property of smaller organizations is just as valuable.
It’s not all bad news.
As more organizations, especially in the small and mid-size range, move to the cloud, hackers shift their focus to the cloud too. The DBIR showed an increase in hackers’ focus to cloud-based servers. Where’s the good news in this? Much of this hacking stems from stolen credentials AND can be prevented with better education amongst staff, paired with anti-phishing technology and managed security services. All affordable options for companies that don’t have hundreds or thousands of endpoints.
More good news: you can start protecting your small org today by implementing some cybersecurity best practices. We’ve developed a checklist to strengthen your cybersecurity program that can get you started. It’s more straightforward than you may anticipate, and you don’t have to be technical or in a security role to kick-off the initiative. In fact, the list was created for management in Human Resources and Finance departments. Items in the list that are easiest to implement include:
- Enforcing a policy to require multi-factor authentication (MFA) to access all company systems
- Creating an onboarding and offboarding policy, integrating HR and IT activities
- Developing a third-party vendor risk management program
Start taking this proactive approach to get ahead of the threats and strengthen your security stance today.
