Cyber risk is a significant concern for small businesses, as they often lack the resources and expertise to implement robust cybersecurity measures compared to larger enterprises. Cyber risk is the risk that companies face from bad actors—be they rogue operators, criminal enterprises, or even nation-states—who try to break into information systems to steal money, misuse data, take systems hostage for ransom, or otherwise wreak havoc. Unlike the threat of a physical break-in, there is no “move to a safer neighborhood” option with cybersecurity. The very fact that a company is always online means that attackers have virtually endless access and opportunity. 

Making things worse, automation and AI are being used to increase the volume and sophistication of cyberattacks, with ever-growing impact. Ransomware and fraudulent funds transfer attacks on small businesses have increased yearly. According to Microsoft Threat Intelligence, Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) has led to the evolution of a gig economy that lets small cyber criminals increase their reach and scale. Technology has allowed bad actors to automate and scale their cyberattacks, making cyber criminality a large global business.

Why It Matters?

The potential consequences of cyber incidents can be devastating, including financial losses, reputational damage, and legal liabilities. Here are some key cyber risks that small businesses should be aware of:

1. Data Breaches: Small businesses handle sensitive information, such as customer data, financial records, and intellectual property. A data breach, where this information is stolen, leaked, or accessed without authorization, can have severe consequences.
2. Phishing Attacks: Phishing is a common tactic used by cybercriminals to trick employees into revealing sensitive information like login credentials or financial data. These attacks often come in the form of deceptive emails, messages, or websites.
3. Ransomware: Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a company’s data, making it inaccessible until a ransom is paid to the attacker. Small businesses may be particularly vulnerable to ransomware attacks due to weaker cybersecurity measures.
4. Insider Threats: Insider threats refer to the risk posed by current or former employees who intentionally or accidentally misuse company data or systems.
5. Third-Party Risks: Small businesses often collaborate with third-party vendors and service providers. If these vendors have weak cybersecurity practices, they could become an entry point for cyber-attacks on small businesses.
6. Lack of Cybersecurity Awareness: Employee awareness and training are crucial in preventing cyber incidents. Small businesses may have limited resources to invest in cybersecurity training, making them more susceptible to social engineering attacks.
7. Inadequate Security Measures: Small businesses may not have invested in the latest cybersecurity technologies and practices, leaving their networks, systems, and data more exposed to potential threats.
8. Compliance and Legal Issues: Small businesses may be subject to specific data protection regulations depending on the industry and location. Failure to comply with these regulations can lead to legal repercussions and financial penalties.

How to Mitigate Cybercrime for Small Businesses?

To mitigate cyber risks, small businesses should take proactive steps to improve their cybersecurity posture: The escalating threat landscape requires proactive measures to safeguard small businesses from cyberattacks. Fortunately, while the risks may be growing, the protections against them keep pace with quality and usability improvements. And that means every business has the option of dramatically improving its security posture.   You don’t need the security of a giant enterprise to mitigate the risk of your small business getting hacked. You just need to master a few basics. In the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2022, researchers found, “Over 80 percent of security incidents can be traced to a few missing elements that could be addressed through modern security approaches.” 1 I’d recommend that every business owner review this report and learn how Microsoft is innovating on security, specifically for small businesses.

Invest in Cybersecurity: Allocate budget and resources to implement appropriate cybersecurity solutions, such as firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems. Investing in cybersecurity can be wise, considering the increasing prevalence of cyber threats and the growing reliance on digital technologies in both personal and business settings. As technology evolves, so do the risks and challenges associated with cybersecurity. Here are some reasons why investing in cybersecurity can be a good idea:

• Protecting sensitive data: Cybersecurity measures can safeguard sensitive information, such as personal data, financial records, intellectual property, and trade secrets, from falling into the wrong hands.
• Preventing financial losses: Cyberattacks can lead to significant financial losses, including theft of funds, ransom payments, and the costs of recovering from a breach. Investing in cybersecurity can mitigate these potential losses.
• Preserving business reputation: A successful cyber-attack can severely damage a company’s reputation and trust among customers and partners. Implementing robust cybersecurity measures can help maintain a positive image and protect your brand.
• Complying with regulations: Companies must adhere to Many industries’ strict data protection and privacy regulations. Investing in cybersecurity can ensure compliance and avoid costly fines or legal consequences.
• Enhancing customer trust: Customers are more likely to do business with companies that prioritize their security and privacy. Demonstrating a commitment to cybersecurity can foster trust and loyalty among your customer bases.
• Protecting critical infrastructure: For businesses and organizations that operate critical infrastructure (e.g., energy, healthcare, transportation), strong cybersecurity is essential to prevent potential disruptions and ensure public safety.
• Cyber insurance premiums: Investing in cybersecurity measures may also lead to lower premiums for cyber insurance coverage, as insurers often consider a company’s risk mitigation efforts when determining rates.

• Regular Backups & keep up to date: Perform regular data backups and ensure they are stored securely. This can help in case of a ransomware attack or data loss. To start, you should do the software updates you are constantly being notified to install from Microsoft and other trusted vendors. One area of increasing cyber threats is through exploited software. Even long-trusted software may have vulnerabilities. Fortunately, software security providers and ethical hackers work directly to identify these vulnerabilities as fast or faster than bad actors so the software provider can craft fixes proactively. Those updates are useless if the technology domain owner doesn’t implement them. Implementing a rapid patching plan is an easy best practice for any small business. Indeed, some cyber insurers have begun to deny coverage for cyberattacks if relevant software is not up to date, while others have put incentives like increasing deductibles in place to encourage timely patching.

• Employee Training & Keep score on your security posture: Train employees to recognize and report phishing attempts and other cybersecurity threats. Educate them about the importance of strong password management and best practices for data security. Beyond tracking updates, it can be hard to understand precisely how vulnerable your business is. So, one essential tool is a measurement service like Microsoft Secure Score, which evaluates your business’s security posture based on your security configurations and provides insights and recommendations regarding security controls. Many businesses now make it a best practice to share their Secure Score with their IT security partner and insurer, yielding good advice tailored to their business.

• Vendor Risk Management: Assess the cybersecurity practices of third-party vendors and partners before engaging in business relationships. Vendor Risk Management (VRM) is the process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks associated with third-party vendors or suppliers that an organization relies on for goods, services, or other business activities. In today’s interconnected business environment, organizations often work with multiple vendors, outsourcing various functions to them to achieve cost efficiency, operational scalability, or access specialized expertise. However, this also exposes organizations to potential risks arising from their vendors’ actions or performance. The VRM process involves several key steps:
• Vendor Selection: This is the first step in the process, where an organization evaluates and selects vendors based on various criteria such as their reputation, financial stability, compliance with regulations, and security practices. Organizations may conduct due diligence to assess potential vendors thoroughly.
• Risk Assessment: Once vendors are selected, a risk assessment is performed to identify potential risks they might introduce to the organization. These risks can include financial, operational, reputational, legal, compliance, and information security risks.
• Risk Mitigation: Organizations implement appropriate risk mitigation strategies after identifying the risks. This may include negotiating contracts with risk clauses, setting specific performance metrics and penalties, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and industry standards, and verifying the vendor’s cybersecurity measures.
• Monitoring and Review: Vendor risk management is an ongoing process. Organizations should regularly monitor vendor performance, changes in their risk profile, and incidents that might affect their operations. Periodic assessments and reviews of the vendor relationship are crucial to ensure continued compliance and minimize potential risks.
• Contingency Planning: In case a vendor fails to meet expectations or poses a significant risk, organizations should have contingency plans in place. These plans might involve identifying alternative vendors or temporarily bringing certain services back in-house.
• Communication and Collaboration: Effective vendor risk management requires open communication and collaboration between the organization and its vendors. This collaboration can help both parties better understand the risks and work together to mitigate them.

• Incident Response Plan: Develop an incident response plan that outlines the steps to be taken in case of a cyber incident to minimize the impact and recover quickly. An Incident Response Plan (IRP) is a structured and organized approach to handling and responding to cybersecurity incidents and other types of emergencies in an organization. The goal of an IRP is to minimize damage, recover essential services, and restore normal operations as quickly as possible while also ensuring the integrity and security of the organization’s data and assets. Here are the key components of an effective Incident Response Plan:

Preparation and Planning:

• Define the scope and objectives of the Incident Response Plan.
• Identify critical assets, systems, and data that need protection.
• Establish a dedicated incident response team with clear roles and responsibilities.
• Develop communication protocols and establish lines of communication with stakeholders.
• Collaborate with legal, HR, and public relations departments for potential legal, regulatory, and public relations implications.
• Conduct training and awareness sessions for employees to recognize and report incidents.

Incident Identification and Classification:

• Define criteria for identifying and classifying incidents based on severity and impact.
• Implement monitoring systems and intrusion detection mechanisms to identify potential incidents.
• Establish processes to handle incident reports from employees, customers, or other sources.

Immediate Response:

• Activate the incident response team once an incident is identified.
• Isolate affected systems or networks to prevent further damage.
• Gather evidence and document the incident thoroughly for analysis and potential legal actions.
• Implement short-term measures to contain the incident and prevent its spread.

Investigation and Analysis:

• Conduct a detailed investigation to understand the nature and extent of the incident.
• Identify the root cause of the incident and any vulnerabilities that were exploited.
• Determine the potential impact on the organization’s operations, data, and reputation.

Containment and Eradication:

• Develop and implement a strategy to eradicate the incident and remove any malicious elements from the network.
• Apply patches, updates, or security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
• Verify the effectiveness of the measures taken and ensure that the incident is fully contained.

Recovery and Restoration:

• Develop a plan for restoring affected systems and services to normal operation.
• Prioritize critical services and systems for restoration.
• Implement data recovery procedures if data has been compromised or lost.
• Test the restored systems to ensure they are functioning correctly and securely.

Communication and Reporting:

• Keep stakeholders informed throughout the incident response process.
• Comply with any legal or regulatory reporting requirements.
• Develop a post-incident report to document the entire incident, response actions taken, and lessons learned.

Post-Incident Review and Improvement:

• Conduct a post-incident review to evaluate the response’s effectiveness and identify improvement areas.
• Update the Incident Response Plan based on the lessons learned from the incident.
• Conduct regular drills and exercises to test the incident response capabilities.

Compliance and Regulations with Implement essential controls: Stay updated on relevant data protection laws and regulations and ensure compliance with them. You don’t need to be a cybersecurity expert to secure your online presence. You just need to focus on leveraging a set of key controls. Most cyberattacks on small businesses still come from the least sophisticated sources like social (for example phishing), malware (such as viruses and ransomware), and device and network hacking (like endpoints). Critical cyber-hygiene controls create multiple layers of defense, making it harder for cybercriminals to exploit common attack vectors. And they can be implemented without a lot of friction or cost—especially when measured against the pain and disruption that can happen when a business fails to put them in place. Implementing these controls isn’t as hard as it sounds—most modern cloud-based software has multiple players of built-in protection. For example, implementing MFA in Microsoft Office 365 is a three-click procedure. Similarly, Microsoft OneDrive has built-in ransomware protection tools that automatically detect and guide recovery from ransomware attacks. Fortunately, there are some basic, proven ways to protect against these kinds of attacks. While no one security measure will stop every attack, there are a set of relatively simple-to-use controls that every small business should put in place. Five security controls really stand out as high impact:

• multifactor authentication (MFA)
• email and web filtering
• data security and backups
• privileged access management (PAM)
• endpoint detection and response (EDR) 

Partner with your cyber insurer and IT provider: Consider purchasing cyber insurance to provide financial protection in case of a cyber incident. Just as a burglary can happen even when you have all the best door locks, a cyberattack can succeed even when you have the best cybersecurity measures. Consequently, preparation and planning are essential. You need to work with your insurer to determine the best security coverage for your specific needs. Cyber insurance offers financial support, incident response coaching, and access to specialized teams that can assist in limiting the damage caused by cyberattacks. You should also work with an IT provider who can build an incident plan that leverages your insurer in case things go wrong. Working together, these partners will make it easier to get you back up and running if an attack should ever succeed. Like property protection and professional liability, cyber insurance is now a necessary cost of doing business. By simplifying the essential steps to mitigate cyber threats, every small business can enhance its cybersecurity posture, reduce the likelihood and impact of attacks, and keep insurance costs down. Done well, effective cybersecurity can even build confidence in making investments and driving innovations. Staying informed and up to date, implementing basic security controls, and forging partnerships with cyber insurers and IT providers will empower a small business to protect its online presence and digital assets effectively. Remember, cybersecurity is a team sport. By working together, we can create a safer digital environment in which any small business can thrive.

Our Motto: Keeping Cyber-safe as you grow.

Vistas Cloud provides cyber security support for small businesses in this era of increased cybercrime that fatigues small companies. Vistas Cloud is pioneer in the field of Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365. This platform is a comprehensive solution that can help businesses streamline their operations and improve customer experiences, and having a team of experts to support its implementation and management can be invaluable. In addition to installing and setting up Microsoft 365, Vistas Cloud provides training and education for users to ensure that they can effectively use the platform to meet their unique business needs.