Why Might Hackers Target Growing Organizations?
For growing organizations, cybercrimes, like funds transfer fraud and ransomware attacks, are increasing, possibly influenced by the shift to remote working. But what makes these organizations attractive to cybercriminals? In this article, we tell you about five common reasons.
5 Common Reasons Hackers Might Target Growing Organizations
1. Growing Organizations Are Often Viewed as Easier Targets
While the news headlines seem to focus on major security breaches at large companies, small and medium-sized businesses are also common victims of cyber attacks. In fact, 43% of cyberattacks are aimed at growing organization according to Verizon. Even though the financial gains may be less, cybercriminals may view smaller organizations as appealing targets because of the perception that their IT security systems may be less developed and employees may not receive regular cybersecurity training.
Learn more about how employees can help reduce cyber risks.
2. Growing Organizations May Be More Vulnerable to Social Engineering
Social engineering refers to the use of deception or manipulation to trick individuals into taking actions that compromise security, such as revealing sensitive or confidential information, wiring money or granting access. Growing organizations tend to be more exposed to this risk for a number of reasons, including: they may lack fundamental security safeguards, like two-factor authentication; they may not fully understand the risks and may not adequately train employees; they commonly work with various third-party partners, which is the root cause of 41% of fintech company data breaches; and may frequently make and receive payments using wire transfers.
3. Growing Organizations Often Feel Pressured to Pay Ransoms
Faced with choosing between paying a ransomware demand that may get them back online faster or enduring a long period of potentially business-crippling downtime, growing organizations often feel that they have no choice but to pay these demands in the event of a ransomware attack. Without anyone to turn to for help, this is particularly true of those without access to the cyber incident specialists that cyber insurance can provide.
Faced with choosing between paying a ransomware demand that may get them back online faster or enduring a long period of potentially business-crippling downtime, growing organizations may often feel that they have no choice but to pay these demands in the event of a ransomware attack.
4. Growing Organizations May Be Seen as a Gateway to Larger Organizations
Many growing organizations are connected electronically to the IT systems of a range of larger, partner organizations. So, when cybercriminals are looking to infiltrate these larger and more cyber secure organizations, they may target their downstream suppliers to see if these growing organizations offer a less-secure way in. What’s more, many of these IT relationships are visible through publicly available data.
5. Growing Organizations Are Sometimes Collateral Damage
From the WannaCry attack back in 2017 to the Blackbaud attack where over 125 organizations in the UK reported that they had a potential data breach, growing organizations are often collateral damage in large-scale cyber attacks that have nothing to do with them. Growing organizations might not realize that if a cyber attack is launched against one of their technology providers, they may be responsible for resulting business interruption costs, privacy notifications to customers, or reputational harm.
43% of cyberattacks are aimed at growing organization.
How to Help Protect Growing Organizations from Hackers
Acrisure can help provide growing organizations with access to cyber insurance solutions and cybersecurity solutions to help keep them on track and help protect it from hackers. From growing organization insurance solutions to risk management business solutions for businesses of all sizes, Acrisure can help.
Please contact our cybersecurity team at Acrisure Cyber Services to discuss your business’s specific needs and concerns so we can assess and address your cyber preparedness. Or if you are seeking the right growing organization insurance solution for your business, including solutions for cyber insurance, request a growing organization insurance quote today.
The insurance policies described are placed by Acrisure, LLC and/or its insurance producer affiliates. The non-insurance cybersecurity and related cyber services described are provided by Acrisure Cyber Services, LLC, an affiliate of Acrisure, LLC.