Cyber attacks on firms with less than 250 employees have risen by 57%

This year’s Global Risks Report from the World Economic Forum has highlighted some alarming cyber security threats for business leaders.  

 
Most notably, that despite attacks on huge organisations dominating the headlines, cyber attacks on firms with less than 250 employees have grown by a shocking 57%.  

 
The report attributes this to the significant growth in cyber crime in the first six months of 2021, with the most dominant form being business email compromise (BEC) incidents, which rose by 51% from 2020.   

 
The report cites this as evidence that email remains the dominant attack surface for most companies. Only funds transfer fraud (FTF) attacks came close, a development which the report argues is due to an increase in digital transactions during the pandemic.   

 
Speaking of the pandemic, the report highlights how the rapid shift to remote working has rendered many companies vulnerable to cyber attacks. Most, with limited time and budget, rushed through decisions concerning this online shift, with security vulnerabilities an inevitable consequence.  

 
With risks and realities like this, it’s no wonder the cyber insurance market is predicted by the report to reach $22.5 billion by 2030. The report cites cyber security as the “defining risk of our age" arguing that no matter if your business is big or small “addressing cyber risk matters for everyone.”  

 
While these statistics may appear rather bleak, don’t lose hope too quickly. The report notes that most cyber attacks remain unsophisticated and can be easily rebuffed with the right defences.   

Meaning becoming a victim of cyber crime is by no means inevitable.  

 
It is organisations who have “made poor technological choices, often exposed to the public internet” which have most often been targeted by cyber criminals according to the report.  

You can greatly reduce the risk of this happening to your organisation by investing in your security and making the right technological choices for your business. Instigating company policies like secure email, enabling multi-factor authentication and frequently patching software are good places to start.   

But the most effective way you can ensure you keep your organisation protected is by partnering with a professional IT provider.

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