What You Need to Know About Recent Cybersecurity Incident Trends

Beginning in 2008, Verizon has created a report outlining the cybersecurity incident trends that the previous year demonstrated. In doing so, they have provided a resource that offers businesses greater insights into where their cybersecurity efforts need to be focused. Listed below are some of 2019’s trends and insights that were highlighted in the Verizon Business 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR).

Small Businesses ARE a Target

The false notion that a smaller business is immune to cyberattacks by virtue of its size somehow continues. The reason that this is untrue is a simple one: data, the target of today's cybercriminals, has equal value to a cybercriminal regardless of its source. This persistent idea of size-based invulnerability means that many small companies overestimate their safety.

It also doesn’t help that many modern cyberattacks require little effort on the cybercriminal’s part, so it only makes sense to attack a wider swath of targets.

It should be mentioned that much of the data that a cybercriminal would want is precisely the kind that a small business would have. For example, there are countless small medical practices out there. The financial data and medical records they keep are no less valuable than those kept at a major hospital or medical facility, so why would a cybercriminal be any less interested?

We are the Weakest Link

The DBIR also reiterated how many attacks focused on exploiting the imperfect nature of the user, rather than seeking out vulnerabilities or brute-forcing their way in. There is a reason that phishing attacks are so common, and it isn’t as though every cyberthreat is maliciously motivated, either. Lots of data loss occurs via honest human error, something that cybercriminals have not been shy about leveraging in phishing attacks and social engineering.

The Best Protection is Proactive

If you are to keep your business safe from these cybercriminals, you need to take it upon yourself to keep up with these trends and take the steps needed to prevent such attempts before they become necessary. The expert team at Macro Systems is here to help with that. Find out more about our services by giving us a call at 703-359-9211, or by exploring the rest of our website.