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October 22, 2019
Small business and cyberattacks: Are small businesses vulnerable to hackers?
If you run a small business, it’s very easy to think you’re too small for hackers to attack. Small business and cyberattacks don’t go together! Hackers won’t bother with a small business, right? They’re too busy targeting big corporates, aren’t they?
The bad news is every business, however small, is at risk of cyberattack for one simple reason: money.
The bad news is every business, however small, is at risk of cyberattack for one simple reason: money.
Ways that hackers will attack
There are two ways that hackers can create income by attacking you and your company.- By pretending to be your company (or a client or supplier you trade with) they can carry out business fraud. UK Finance estimates the average loss to each business attacked in this way is £28,000.
- By accessing your company records they can hunt down valuable personal information and sell it on the ‘dark web’.
The value of personal data
The value of hacked personal data has risen substantially during 2019 with VPN review website, Top10vpn.com, suggesting that hacked log-ins have increased in average value by up to 200% since the start of the year. Their price index gives current values for different types of data, making it very clear as to why the personal data businesses hold is worth protecting.Prices include:
Email login details:£3.89 per account
Electronic scan of a passport: £21.87 per document
Credit card details: £32.74 per card
Debit card details: £45.92 per card
Paypal login details: £84.48 per account
Bank account login details: £1,025.99 per account
Criminals actively trade these kinds of information on the dark web – so it’s worth hackers carrying out attacks to get access to them. Although your business might not hold this kind of information, if hackers can access your system and send out emails that look like they’re yours (or even make a knock-off copy of your website), they can dupe people that you deal with, and maybe access valuable information there. Hiscox insurance has a great video showing what this kind of attack might look like in the real world.
This can all sound very far-fetched but it happens every day to businesses across the country. It’s essential you and your team are vigilant to the kind of attacks that happen.
