Timothy Francis, the enterprise leader of cyberinsurance at Travelers Insurance, says 60 percent of all online attacks in 2014 were against small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A Verizon report published in 2012 indicates the cost of the average security breach to small businesses is $36,000.
Increasingly, the most common and lucrative security breaches for criminals involve the installation of ransomware on computers. Ransomware is software that locks users out of their computers or restricts access to data by encrypting the information. The user must enter a special key code to restore access, and the hacker will only provide the key if the ransom is paid. The most malicious ransomware actually erases all of a user's data, even if the ransom is paid.
Many owners of SMEs believe they are small fish in an ocean of corporate whales that are far more appealing to criminals. They read about high-profile hacks of large organizations like Yahoo!, Target, JPMorgan Chase, eBay, and LinkedIn, and they feel safe, but large companies have learned the hard way to fortify their protection against cyber intruders and harden their defenses against future attacks.
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As a result, more cybercriminals are turning their attention to easier SME targets, which often have minimal protection in place and lack the knowledge to prevent theft of information from their computers. Up for grabs are passwords, bank account information, residential addresses, and even social security numbers. Armed with this information, cyber thieves can drain funds, steal identities, and launch cyberattacks against businesses and even governments.