JUNEASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO HIGH-RISK CYBERSECURITY FOR SMALL & MED-SIZED BUSINESSESIn today's business world, internet has become a necessary tool. Companies of all sizes have integrated the internet into nearly every aspect of their operations, a trend that is likely to accelerate as businesses embrace mobile and cloud computing to a greater extent. And while the internet has facilitated tremendous economic growth, it has also introduced significant security risks. Massive data breaches have become commonplace, and the average cost of such breaches hit new highs last year. Cybersecurity is clearly a concern shared by the entire business community, but it poses a particularly dangerous threat to smaller businesses. The reason is straightforward ­ small & medium-sized businesses are not only targets of cybercrime, but its primary target. In fact, the majority of all targeted cyberattacks last year were directed at SMBs. Even more concerning is the fact that cybercrime poses an existential threat to small and medium-sized businesses. It is estimated that half of small businesses that experience a cyberattack go out of business within six months.Cybercrime: A Threat to SMBs?Several successful cyberattacks against some of the country's most prominent firms have occurred in recent years. Only in the last two years have major breaches at eBay, JP Morgan, Home Depot, and Target been reported. These breaches, which affected approximately 353 million customers, were spectacular not only because of their size, but also because of the seemingly constant rate at which they appeared to occur. Because the popular press focuses on attacks like these that target the largest corporations, it is easy to overlook the fact that SMBs are at even greater risk and are far more vulnerable once they are victimized. In fact, there are many more threats to confidential data held by local businesses for every high-profile breach. Some basic statistics will help to frame the scope and urgency of the issue that SMBs are facing. The number of known cybersecurity incidents increased by 48 percent last year, and cyberattacks on SMBs have become more common. According to one study, SMBs were the target of 60 percent of all targeted cyberattacks last year. This trend is expected to continue this year, as a June report confirms that SMBs are still the preferred target of cybercriminals. In fact, approximately 75 percent of all spear-phishing scams targeted SMBs in June, with the smallest companies (those with 250 employees or fewer) bearing the brunt of those attacks. Furthermore, these attacks have become far more expensive, with losses from phishing scams increasing from $525 million in 2012 to $800 million last year, a more than 50 percent increase.Recent trends confirm that SMBs face a diverse and ever-changing cyber threat landscape. Ransomware, for example, has emerged as a major threat to SMBs. These attacks in which a cybercriminal encrypts a firm's files and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them, are becoming more common, effective, and expensive. As per sources, the number of such attacks more than doubled last year, and ransomware programs now have the ability to target more than 230 different types of computer files, up from only 70 in 2013.In the last two years, we've also seen the rise of fraudulent transfer schemes in which cybercriminals use publicly available information and flaws in email systems to trick small businesses into transferring large sums of money into bogus bank accounts. As per sources, such schemes cost companies around the world more than $1 billion between October 2013 and June 2015, and while companies of all sizes have been victimized, SMBs are thought to be the most vulnerable. Finally, the internet of things provides cybercriminals with new attack vectors, many of which are not immediately apparent. Network printers and copiers, for example, which allow organizations to scan and email documents within the organization, can provide attackers with an unexpected way to launch a lateral attack into a business network.IMPRESSIONS
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