Small Businesses Face More Sophisticated Cybersecurity Threats
By Andy Medici – Senior Reporter, The Playbook, The Business Journals
A growing number of businesses are falling victim to cyberattacks.
That’s according to a survey by small-business insurance provider Hiscox, which found more two-thirds of firms surveyed reported an increase in the number of times their organization experienced a cyberattack in the past 12 months. Only 7% of small businesses that experienced a cyberattack and paid a ransom to regain access to their systems or data actually got them back while about 10% of small businesses saw their data leaked online instead.
Mike Maletsky, head of technology and cyber at Hiscox USA, said the firm does not recommend paying ransoms in the event of a cyberattack.
“There is no guarantee you get all your data back. You might get all of your data or none of your data,” he said in an interview with The Playbook. “They are already committing a crime and it’s not like they are worried about committing another one.”
In an age where large-scale hacking activities tend to make headlines, paying a ransom could also have ripple effects that’ll hurt the business long term. That’s because, if hackers know the business has paid out before, it is more likely to make them a target for future attacks. Customers that learn of the hack and potentially the payment might also have a more negative view of the business, Maletsky said.
“Instead of paying, we really want to focus on prevention,” Maletsky said, who added cyberinsurance should be part of any attack-mitigation strategy. “You want to make sure the bad actor is completely out of the system.”
Cyberattacks become more sophisticated
Ransomware, in which bad actors gain control of a company’s functions or its data and demand payment to return it, is one of many potential cyberattacks business owners may have to contend with.
The number of attacks — and their sophistication — has only grown in recent years, as the use of generative artificial intelligence reduces phishing attempts with poor English or other more obvious giveaways.
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