SMEs now a prime target for cyber hackers

The latest annual report from cyber security specialists, Symantec, suggests small and medium-sized enterprises are now a major target for hackers looking to access sensitive business and financial data, as well as industry secrets.
 
More than half of attacks from cyber hackers are now being targeted at SMEs with fewer than 2,500 employees.
 
This is a particularly big issue according to Symantec, with the company’s survey indicating many SMEs still feel immune from serious cyber-attacks. There remains an outdated assumption among many small business owners that hackers prefer to attack larger corporations.
 
The vast majority of SMEs wrongly assume their business has no information of worth to cyber hackers and subsequently don’t take the necessary security measures to protect sensitive business and financial information.
 
It is for this reason that hackers are increasingly choosing to target SMEs; larger firms now boast advanced security systems that are harder to crack. Symantec believes criminals view SMEs as "the path of least resistance" to valuable and sensitive information.
 
Symantec continued to argue that "criminal activity is often driven by crimes of opportunity. With cyber-crimes, that opportunity appears to be with small businesses."
 
It is therefore increasingly important that SMEs tighten up their security, not only to protect their own information, but also to prevent hackers from using their website to launch an attack across the wider internet community.

Date published 18 Apr 2013 | Last updated 18 Apr 2013