

Most employees do not have the knowledge to defend themselves against these advanced social engineering attacks. The hacker often contacts employees via email, pretending to be a credible organization or even a colleague. Social engineering tricks people into handing over confidential company information.
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And worse, recent research shows that password behaviors continue to be an issue - 91% of people know that using the same password on multiple accounts is a security risk, yet 66% continue to use the same password anyway.Īttackers also use social engineering techniques to gain access to networks through employees. According to Gartner, 95% of cloud breaches occur due to human errors such as configuration mistakes, and this is expected to continue.Īdding more risk, password policies and other safeguards designed to protect people, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), are not standard practice within most SMB organizations. In the Verizon DBIR 2020 report, human error accounts for 22% of breaches. Sophisticated cyberattacks primarily target employees because they are often the weakest link in the digital security chain. Other research indicates that 85% of managed service providers reported ransomware attacks against SMBs over the last two years, with 56% seeing attacks in the first six months of 2019. In the latest Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), 27% of malware incidents are contributed to ransomware. By combining ransomware with the capabilities of a virus, it can not only infect one device but easily spread throughout the entire network.ĭata predicts that ransomware attacks will target businesses every 11 seconds in 2021. But today, ransomware is also spread in hybrid form. A ransomware attack on its own is bad enough as it allows hackers to take control of a device, and then demand a ransom before the user can regain control. Ransomware and hybrid ransomware attacks are significant threats to devices. Now, factor in cyber threats and potential vulnerabilities in operating systems and software, and you can better understand how devices represent a potential risk and can profoundly increase the attack surface. This creates more gateways for cybercriminals to carry out cyberattacks.Īlong with an exploding volume of data generated using these devices, new data also estimates that there will be close to 50 billion connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices used worldwide by 2030.

Devicesīusinesses today are connecting to the Internet using more and more devices. What are the primary attack surfaces?ĭevices and people are two primary attack surfaces. Gaining a better understanding of your IT environment and the elements in your attack surface that represent risk are good steps toward a proactive defense. In certain regulated industries, businesses still experience these financial consequences in the second and third year after an attack. One report estimates that the cost of data breach remediation for companies with less than 500 employees averaged about $2.5 million and this has continued to increase year-over-year. And more often than not, SMBs suffer significant financial impact from an attack. Recent data shows 43% of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses, yet only 14% are prepared to defend themselves. The reality is that small businesses continue to face the high probability of cyber attack. While many SMBs may think they are too small to be a cybercrime target, a quick look at their attack surface often reveals that there are potential access points in their IT network or other vulnerabilities that can be leveraged to stage a cyber attack or data breach. Understanding and managing your attack surface - the number of possible ways an attacker can get into a device or network and extract data - will help reduce exposure to cyber risk. In fact, ensuring the attack surface is as small as possible is a basic security measure. When it comes to smart cybersecurity for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs), reducing the attack surface is critical.
