SMB Data Breaches Continue to Grow

In the past, many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) assumed they were “under the radar”, being too small for cybercriminals to pursue.  This has proven to be a fallacy.   Due to underestimating the risks, implementing cybersecurity protections was often overlooked or considered unnecessary.

Over the years, larger enterprises have increased their investments in cybersecurity, bolstering their defenses.  This has caused many cybercriminals to shift their efforts towards easier targets – specifically, SMBs.   As a result, SMBs are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks and the associated threats to their businesses.

Industry statistics show that SMB data breaches continue to grow, with no signs of slowing anytime soon.  In addition, the breaches are  becoming more severe.

• 41% of small businesses were victims of cyberattacks in 2023, up from 38% and 22% in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
• Nearly 50% of all data breaches impact SMBs with under 1,000 employees.
• Over 90% of cybersecurity incidents incur to costs in a range of approximately $800 to over $600,000.
• Over 80% of U.S. SMBs are not financially prepared to recover from a cyberattack.
• More than half of SMBs go out of business as a result of a data breach.
• Nearly half of SMBs have experienced a cybersecurity incident in the last year.
• Employees of small businesses experience 350% more social engineering attacks than those at larger companies.

There are several factors that have contributed to the increase in SMB data breaches, including the following:

• SMBs being perceived by cybercriminals as easier targets
• Owner/managers not establishing cybersecurity as a priority
• Broader uses of technology platforms has resulted in an expanding attack surface, increasing vulnerability
• Increased collection and storage of valuable information, such as customer data, financial records, etc.
• Attacks on small businesses to gain access to larger organizations in their supply chain
• Cybercriminals using increasingly more sophisticated hacking techniques

Recommendations for SMBs:

• Leadership should make cybersecurity a priority
• Strengthen the security posture of your organization
• Leverage the expertise and resources of outsourced Managed Services Providers
• Implement multi-layered security protections – for in-office, remote, and hybrid workers
• Provide employee cybersecurity awareness training
• Ensure system / software security patches are up-to-date
• Have in place and Incident Response Plan to facilitate swift and effective responses to a data breach

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