Very small businesses (VSBs) with under 50 employees can be a lucrative proposition for cybercriminals because of the data they hold on behalf of their clients and employees. This can fetch a high price if sold or ransomed, and can open up new revenue streams for enterprising criminals.
Besides the constant risk of cybersecurity disruption, a study from Kaspersky Lab has revealed that small businesses are also at risk because of their reliance on staff who are inexperienced at cybersecurity. One-in-three firms this size entrust IT security to employees, who might not have the know-how necessary to protect businesses from prolific threats.
Studying threats to small businesses in more detail, the Kaspersky Lab report sheds light on how ransomware is impacting them — with findings showing that when these firms fall prey to ransomware, they tend to be victimized again and again.
Indeed, out of those small businesses that have suffered an incident in the past 12 months, many have fallen victim to multiple incidents – with 37% having experienced two or three infections.
This can have a crippling effect on a business, because suffering downtime or a lack of access to files for prolonged periods can be extremely damaging. In fact, of the ransomware victims surveyed, over a quarter (27%) have lost access to their data for weeks, meaning this issue is constantly putting small firms at risk of inactivity, and therefore loss of income and reputational damage.
“Ransomware is one of the many very serious cyberthreats faced by businesses today. When it strikes, it can have huge ramifications, no matter what size the business is. However, very small firms are particularly vulnerable to multiple incidents. One of the reasons for this may be because, at many small businesses, the IT provision is managed by people that perhaps don’t know how to best avert the dangers – they simply don’t have the time or IT skills to cope with the threats,” said Sergey Martsynkyan, head of B2B Product Marketing at Kaspersky Lab.
Small businesses can protect themselves better, despite their lack of IT personnel, with security solutions designed specifically with this sized organization in mind – such as Kaspersky Small Office Security. The solution helps businesses to protect themselves from the risk of ransomware, and more, in the following ways:
– Easy to use: any employee can deploy and manage Kaspersky Small Office Security – even if they do not have specialist IT security expertise.
– Ready for remote working: the solution can be operated via an online console, so that users can manage and monitor security from anywhere. This makes it ideal for small businesses that don’t have a main office, or those that use lots of remote devices.
– Protection at PC and server level: the System Watcher component that is available for Windows file servers as well as computers protects sensitive business data, blocking the action of exploits and rolling back any activity performed by malicious applications.
– Supports very small business (VSB) mobility: to secure remote workers and those on the move, mobile security and management technologies within Kaspersky Small Office Security protect sensitive information on employee-owned devices. The solution also comes with the ability to locate, lock and wipe missing devices to protect company data, should devices end up in the wrong hands.
More details of the Kaspersky Lab study can be found in the report: Small fish, big lucrative pond: who’s protecting VSBs from cybercrime? For more information about Kaspersky Small Office Security, please see the website.