Hackers Target Small Business Vulnerabilities as Phishing Attacks Abound

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Hikvision on Social Engineering Tactics & Vulnerabilities

Phishing attacks grew 600 percent since February 2020 and small business vulnerabilities have made them a target of attackers. As small businesses are exposed to greater risk, they are focusing on cybersecurity. Security magazine covered this trend in the article, “The integration of small business cybersecurity protection and cyber insurance: An emerging trend in 2021.”

From the article: “Now more than ever before, the small business sector is beginning to prioritize cybersecurity and cyber liability insurance to mitigate potential crippling financial risk, which is setting the stage for a major trend moving forward: the merging of cybersecurity technology and insurance to mitigate insurer’s risk and provide the best overall coverage for small businesses.”

Cyberattacks are having a big financial impact on small businesses. Social engineering methods are being deployed, especially phishing and spear phishing, which mimic a valid email in an attempt to trick an employee into divulging sensitive information.

In a Hikvision blog about social engineering, social engineering is explained, including what this tactic is and how it exploits vulnerabilities:

“Most cybercrime techniques revolve around finding and exploiting weak points in a company’s digital infrastructure. Social engineering is different in that it targets employees, not the network itself. Since worker mistakes and misbehavior are the leading cause of data breaches, this method can be painfully effective. Social engineering attacks are typically more psychological than they are technological. Instead of using sophisticated hacking techniques or in-depth knowledge of computers, they rely on tricking people into giving away information.”

A key takeaway from the Security magazine story is that small businesses are implementing cybersecurity insurance in conjunction with cybersecurity policies. Also, by familiarizing themselves with exclusions and dependencies of a cyber-insurance policy, business owners can ensure that they take action to implement cybersecurity technologies and policies that maximize their likelihood of receiving an insurance payment in the case of a security breach or other incident.

Learn more about vulnerabilities in this Hikvision article: “Part 1, Hikvision Senior Director of Cybersecurity on Vulnerabilities: What are Cyber Vulnerabilities?”

Cybersecurity