Cyber attacks on all businesses, particularly small to medium-sized businesses, are becoming more frequent, targeted, and complex. According to Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime Study, 43% of cyber attacks are aimed at small businesses, but only 14% are prepared to defend themselves.
Not only does a cyber attack disrupt normal operations, but it may cause damage to important IT assets and infrastructure that can be impossible to recover from without the budget or resources to do so.
Small businesses are struggling to defend themselves because of this. According to Ponemon Institute’s State of Cybersecurity Report, small to medium-sized businesses around the globe report recent experiences with cyber attacks:
-Insufficient security measures: 45% say that their processes are ineffective at mitigating attacks
-Frequency of attacks: 66% have experienced a cyber attack in the past 12 months
-Background of attacks: 69% say that cyber attacks are becoming more targeted
The most common types of attacks on small businesses include:
-Phishing/Social Engineering: 57%
-Compromised/Stolen Devices: 33%
-Credential Theft: 30%
As a business leader, you can minimize the potential, gain value in your cybersecurity efforts, and even prevent future attacks by understanding the targets of attacks and consequences.
2022 CYBERSECURITY PREDICTIONS
· By the end of 2023, modern privacy laws will cover the personal information of 75% of the world’s population.
· By 2024, organizations adopting a cybersecurity mesh architecture will reduce the financial impact of security incidents by an average of 90%.
· By 2024, 30% of enterprises will adopt cloud-delivered
Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and Firewall As A Service (FWaaS) capabilities from the same vendor.
· By 2025, 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements.
· The percentage of nation states passing legislation to regulate ransomware payments, fines, and negotiations will rise to 30% by the end of 2025, compared to less than 1% in 2021.
· By 2025, 40% of boards of directors will have a dedicated cybersecurity committee overseen by a qualified board member.
· By 2025, 70% of CEOs will mandate a culture of organizational resilience to survive coincident threats from cybercrime, severe weather events, civil unrest, and political instabilities.
· By 2025, threat actors will have weaponized operational technology environments successfully enough to cause human casualties.