Your SMB Must Not Be a Testbed for the Next Hack

Many small business owners may be under the impression that cybercriminals only attack large enterprises, but hackers often assume that small businesses are prime targets with weaker security systems.

Cyberattacks against small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have increased in recent years (73% of SMBs suffered an attack in 2023), and certain methods of attacks — such as phishing and other forms of social engineering — often target small businesses specifically.

SMBs often lack the robust cybersecurity infrastructure of their larger counterparts. Since many of today’s cybersecurity protections are designed for large enterprises, smaller businesses can get caught in the crosshairs, according to cybersecurity firm Huntress. These businesses can unwittingly become a testbed for attackers to try out new tactics and security breaches and establish their initial footholds.

“It’s still way too easy for SMBs to think they don’t have anything ‘valuable enough’ to attract cybercriminals,” Jamie Levy, director of adversary tactics at Huntress, told Techopedia.

“Nothing could be further from the truth, and we’re seeing this borne out in the data we’ve collected monitoring thousands of organizations and more than two million endpoints.”

“The current cyber threat landscape is positioning SMBs to have a bad time. Hackers are going to assume you have misconfigurations. They’re going to assume you are blindly trusting business tools and applications. Putting it bluntly, they’re going to assume you’re not that smart.

“And criminals know that the pace of innovation gives them an incredible opportunity. The attack surface has exploded in the last few years alone, and SMBs need to be working to secure endpoints, identities, SaaS applications and much more.

The Growing Threat Landscape for SMBs

Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their techniques to bypass security measures — especially with the growing use of artificial intelligence to develop and automate attacks. SMBs are viewed as low-hanging fruit for several reasons:

Limited resources: SMBs typically have smaller IT budgets, which can result in fewer resources allocated to cybersecurity.
Lack of awareness: Many SMBs underestimate their risk level, believing they are too small to be targeted.
Outdated systems: Without regular updates, SMBs often operate on outdated software, which can have unpatched vulnerabilities.
Insufficient training: SMB employees may not receive adequate cybersecurity training, making them susceptible to phishing and social engineering attacks.

Methods of Attack

Hackers’ tactics are becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging to detect, posing threats to businesses of all sizes and across various industry sectors.

“Today, hackers can simply leverage an identity to facilitate initial access, or they can gain access through mechanisms like remote monitoring and management software (representing 65% of incidents we responded to in Q3 2023) and business email compromise,” Levy said. “Everything that touches your network has become a potential intrusion route and a liability.”

A major shift occurred in August 2023, when a multinational operation led by the US Justice Department and the FBI took down the Qakbot botnet and malware, according to Huntress’s 2024 Cyber Threat Report.

“This event led to a significant change in the behavior of cybercriminals, including the proliferation of ransomware attacks and the innovative misuse of remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools,” the report states.

While some ransomware remains persistently active across the enterprise and SMB environments, several entities continue to build “market share” in targeting SMBs.

“One notable trend that has remained consistent is the weaponization of legitimate tools to hide in plain sight, particularly remote monitoring and management tools,” according to the report. Other emerging threats include credential dumping and the abuse of trusted applications like cloud storage services.

“In these events, threat actors will acquire user credentials through various mechanisms — through ‘infostealer’ malware, underground forums, or leak sites — and then access external resources masquerading as that user…

“Attackers often make use of cloud storage in their attacks, either as a delivery mechanism, or a place to exfiltrate data for offloading.”

Real-World Implications

An alarming 73% of small business owners and leaders reported experiencing data breaches or cyberattacks in 2023, marking a surge in incidents, according to the 2023 Business Impact Report conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).

The impact of a cyberattack on an SMB can be devastating. Cyberattacks often require specialist knowledge to investigate, repair damage, and implement security measures to prevent future attacks. This can be expensive for small businesses that do not have dedicated IT teams or security experts.

Cyberattacks cost small businesses around $8,300 annually, according to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2023.

Beyond immediate financial losses, there can be long-term repercussions, including:

Operational disruption
Loss of revenue
Reputational damage
Theft of sensitive information
Loss of customer trust
Potential legal liabilities

Some businesses lay off employees to cover costs, and in worst-case scenarios, they are forced to shut down completely.

Steps to Protect Your SMB

“For SMBs who want to avoid becoming the next “testbed” for cybercrime, take an honest look—with an experienced managed service provider—and invest in areas where you may need more advanced measures to close visibility gaps or secure business tools,” Levy said.

“The financial damage that would bruise a Fortune 100 company can be the death of an SMB.

“Moving decisively to implement proven security controls like multifactor authentication and endpoint detection and response may well be what saves SMBs’ proverbial asses from today’s craftier, covert adversaries.”

The Bottom Line

SMBs are not immune to the growing threat of cyberattacks. In fact, their perceived lack of robust security makes them appealing targets for cybercriminals looking to test new methods of attack.

By taking proactive steps to enhance your cybersecurity posture, you can significantly reduce the risk of your business becoming a statistic. Don’t let your SMB be a testbed for the next hack or data breach — invest in cybersecurity today to protect your operations.