Security News

Cybercriminals and threat actors work around the clock, with attacks originating from around the world. All businesses, including SMBs, need to be always on alert for new threats and available to respond at any moment to an incident.

While 81% of SMBs are monitored by a security operations center, 57% do not operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Considering that 69% of SMBs feel they are facing critical and expanding cybersecurity threats and 75% say cyberattacks have increased in the past three years, the lack of 24/7 coverage continues to put SMBs at risk, according to a survey by Forrester and Pondurance.

SMBs, beware: Microsoft said this week it has discovered a North Korean crew targeting small businesses with ransomware since September of last year. After the gang gets its eponymous malware onto a victim's network, it follows the standard ransomware playbook: encrypt files, and demand a Bitcoin payment to restore the data.

A report released Tuesday by the Cyber Readiness Institute looks at the slow state of MFA adoption among SMBs. CRI surveyed 1,403 small business owners across the U.S., the U.K., New Zealand, Japan, India, Germany, Canada and Australia from May 2 to May 15. Among the respondents, 55% admitted that they're not very aware of MFA and its security benefits, while 54% said they haven't adopted MFA for their business.

MFA has been in use for decades and is widely recommended by cybersecurity experts, yet 55% of SMBs surveyed are not "Very aware" of MFA and its security benefits, and 54% do not use it for their business. Of the businesses that have not implemented MFA, 47% noted they either didn't understand MFA or didn't see its value.

Report: Many SMBs wouldn't survive a ransomware attack. A new report from cybersecurity provider CyberCatch reveals why SMBs may not be able to withstand an attack and offers advice on how they can better protect themselves.

More than 40% of SMBs surveyed have been hit with a cybersecurity breach. Cyberattacks pose a threat to all organizations large and small, but SMBs can be particularly vulnerable as they often lack the budget, resources and expertise to prevent and recover from a successful security breach.

Cyberattacks on SMBs are increasing, will your business be ready? As the number of cyberattacks continues to rise and may jump even higher with the new Senate bill passed Tuesday, small-to-medium businesses should be on higher alert of potential cyberattacks.

Microsoft says its new endpoint security solution for small and medium-sized businesses known as Microsoft Defender for Business has hit general availability. It has started rolling out to new and existing Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers worldwide starting today, March 1st. Microsoft Defender for Business helps companies with up to 300 employees defend against cybersecurity threats, including malware, phishing, and ransomware in environments with Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices.

As the number of ransomware attacks continue to rise, Blackberry has found as a part of its annual threat report that there may be a shared economy amongst cyber criminals that is growing. "This infrastructure has also incubated a criminal shared economy, with threat groups sharing and outsourcing malware allowing for attacks to happen at scale. In fact, some of the biggest cyber incidents of 2021 look to have been the result of this outsourcing."