It’s more important than ever for small businesses to protect their information online. Across the world, hackers are seamlessly breaking into company databases and accessing personnel files, financial documents, and all kinds of essential data.
Here are some crucial cyber attack statistics that every small business owner should be aware of in 2018:
Approximately 43% of all cyber attacks are aimed at small organizations.
Throughout 2017, cyber attacks cost small and medium-sized businesses an average of $2.3 million. Additionally, it’s projected that cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion a year starting in 2021. Consider investing in cyber security as you move forward with your business. Considering the fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30, there’s always time to include these expenses in your taxes.
Wholly 94% of malware is actually delivered via email. An organization can have all kinds of innovative software security protection platforms, but if one unaware employee clicks on the wrong email attachment, everything is in jeopardy.
Almost 60% of small businesses say that cyber attacks are becoming more severe and sophisticated. Though email cyber threats aren’t exactly sophisticated at face value, once the initial access has been established, the techniques attackers use to evade security, deploy malware, and gain control over compromised computers are rapidly changing.
Additionally, small business owners should be aware of the various types of digital threats. Here are some of the most common types of cybersecurity attacks:
- Advanced Persistent Threats — These treats are difficult to determine because they use multiple phases to gather information. Additionally, they can strike at any time.
- Phishing — Phishing scams are extremely popular because they are relatively easy to perform. Scammers can gain access to a network via email or social media links.
- DDoS — Distributed Denial of Service is an attack in which multiple sources target a web-server, website, or other devices connected to the network. The attack involves overwhelming the network with a flood of messages, connection requests, packets, and other issues forcing it to crash, rendering it unavailable to users.
As long as organizations are staying up-to-date with the most innovative types of cyber security and are aware of the threats out there, they should be able to at least fight back against these criminal hackers.
