Cybersecurity threats pose a significant risk to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Hackers often target small organizations because they typically lack the robust security infrastructure of larger companies. The consequences can include financial loss, reputational damage and legal action – and in some cases it can even lead to such damage to the business, or loss of money that it has to close its operations. doors.
The threat is real: 76% of SMBs surveyed in a 2022 ConnectWise study say they have been the subject of one or more cyberattacks in the previous year. In a CrowdStrike survey of SMBs, 63% said they face increasingly advanced cyber threats, including ransomware and identity-based attacks, and 61% said they are understaffed and of cybersecurity expertise to deal with these threats. Yet in a recent AWS survey of SMB executives, 35% said cybersecurity was not a strategic priority.
What explains this disconnect? Why don’t 100% of SMEs make cybersecurity a strategic priority? Simply put, it’s a combination of an increasingly complex threat landscape and a lack of internal cybersecurity expertise.
Common cybersecurity vulnerabilities for SMBs include outdated software, weak password policies, lack of encryption, and insufficient employee awareness. It’s not that SME owners are in the dark, far from it. That’s because they don’t have the cybersecurity staff or expertise to address these vulnerabilities in the same way that larger companies do. In short, many are too busy running their businesses to constantly monitor malicious activity and protect their digital assets to the same degree as larger organizations.
But this can leave them vulnerable to phishing attacks, ransomware, and other malicious activity. Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in cyber threats targeting SMBs. One notable trend is the continued high rate of ransomware attacks, in which malicious actors encrypt a company’s data and demand payment for its distribution. SMEs, which often have limited resources to take robust cybersecurity measures, are attractive targets. Unless the ransom is too high, they are much more likely to pay it, especially if business-critical data is being held hostage.
We’ve also seen a significant increase in identity-based attacks, in which attackers impersonate an employee or break into the identity management system used by a company and assume a legitimate identity. These are systems that provide a single sign-on that employees can use across all company applications – and while the security of these systems is typically much more robust than what an SMB can muster on its own, attackers who manage to access an identity The system will have effectively captured the entire keychain.
Additionally, supply chain attacks have increased in importance, with cybercriminals exploiting vulnerabilities in smaller partners’ networks or software code to gain access to larger organizations.
Small business owners are generally well aware of the cybersecurity risks they face. Unfortunately, they tend to have limited options for how to respond. They typically don’t have a built-in security team or the resources to support them. They may know they need a cybersecurity solution, but for most of them that means purchasing an antivirus product or something integrated into their operating system, which is neither the neither very effective.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can significantly simplify the landscape for SMBs, allowing them to achieve much better security against ransomware, malware, and other types of attacks, without requiring an advanced cybersecurity degree.
AI plays a central role in simplifying cybersecurity for SMBs in at least three key areas. First, static AI, through advanced machine learning algorithms, can improve threat detection and prevention by going beyond traditional signature-based approaches. It identifies patterns and anomalies in data, allowing it to recognize potential threats whose signatures may not be known.
Second, behavioral AI is capable of responding to ongoing attacks and stopping breaches. By continuously analyzing user and system behavior, behavioral AI models establish a baseline of what normal behavior looks like – so that any deviation from this baseline immediately reveals itself as a potential threat. This proactive use of AI enables real-time response, helping to thwart attacks before they escalate.
Third, conversational AI can help simplify cybersecurity for SMEs by providing interactive explanations and answers to complex problems. Using natural language processing, this type of AI helps SMBs understand security concepts, interpret alerts, and make informed decisions. So, even without in-depth cybersecurity expertise, SMEs will be able to effectively manage and respond to potential threats.
The combination of these three AI-powered approaches allows SMBs to strengthen their cybersecurity posture in a more accessible and streamlined way. The good news is that this isn’t science fiction: all three of these AI capabilities exist today.
With the help of AI-powered cybersecurity and implementing a few basic security measures, SMBs can quickly improve their security posture in the coming year.
Although collecting and analyzing threat intelligence is out of reach for most SMBs, AI-based defenses can deliver the benefits of threat intelligence with a high degree of automation. It can be as simple as installing a cybersecurity agent – a small piece of software – on every machine on your network and in your cloud applications. An AI platform then uses the agent’s data, along with the types of AI described above, to identify and prevent attacks and to stop any malicious activity that might occur. Installing and configuring this type of defense should be no more complicated than a few clicks.
As we’ve seen in 2023, identity-based attacks have become an increasingly important way for attackers to hack businesses. MFA provides an additional layer of defense, making it even more difficult for attackers to connect. With MFA, simply having an employee’s password is no longer enough to gain access, making it exponentially more difficult for attackers to gain access.
If your business is attacked, cloud-based backup provides peace of mind and minimizes downtime. In the case of a ransomware attack, a backup can be the difference between having to pay the ransom or not. Cloud-based backup systems offer better visibility and accessibility, and are generally protected by enhanced security themselves.
Protect your cloud drives (such as Box or Google Drive) by implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) and using what cybersecurity professionals call “the principle of least privilege,” which means giving users only the minimum level of access they need for their work. . This way, if a person’s identity is compromised, attackers will not have access to all of the company’s data, but only to the data and applications for which that person is specifically authorized.
Don’t underestimate the value of cybersecurity awareness training. Employees need to know what types of threats the company faces and how these threats can appear in their daily work (phishing emails, text messages, honey traps, etc.).
The SMB cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve and the arrival of new AI technologies offers a glimmer of hope amidst the challenges. By leveraging these tools and taking some basic cybersecurity steps, SMBs can strengthen their defenses against cyberattacks. The future is bright as AI will not only act as a guardian against evolving threats but will also enable SMEs to confidently navigate the complex domain of cybersecurity.
This article is written by Daniel Bernard, Sales Director at CrowdStrike.
