Mobility and the cloud have been good to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). In many ways, these two technologies have been an equalizer. But that doesn’t mean the playing field is completely equal.
Security vendor AVG says that SMBs are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks because their security practices are more lax than those at big firms. Worse, a successful attack can very likely bankrupt a small company.
"Small businesses have probably just got their head around security within the network, but we've just rapidly changed their world, introducing mobile and tablets for SMB usage,” noted Mike Foreman, general manager for AVG. “SMBs are going to have to get their heads around that.”
Mobile devices are another way that cyber criminals can strike, and they are being used for financial crimes. Espionage doesn’t make sense when it comes to most SMBs, but stealing financial information is always profitable for a cyber criminal.
The main approach being taken is sneaking a Trojan onto the SMB’s system that then can grab login credentials for online banking. Off-the-shelf software that can be customized, such as Zeus and SpyEye, is the malware of choice for such attacks.
Smaller firms also need to have good backup in place for when larger firms are breached by more sophisticated attacks.
Gmail and Dropbox (News - Alert) are commonly used by small businesses, especially those that have embraced bring your own device (BYOD). But an attack on these systems can hurt SMBs that rely too much on them. Gmail recently had a data loss where some e-mail was irrecoverably lost. Most businesses rely on services such as Gmail to the point that email lost to the service can potentially be devastating.
What makes malware particularly dangerous for SMBs is that unlike larger firms, a single big event can shutter a business. The cost of a successful data breach can cripple most SMBs, according to AVG.
"The real big area for a small business is data privacy,” said Foreman. “This impacts all of us, but for a small business to have data breaches, well it could be the end of their business. It is happening, we've seen it.”
There are many things that an SMB can focus upon; is there ever enough time in the day? But unlike some concerns, which are relative luxuries, mobile security is not. As businesses embrace BYOD and mobility, they need to get familiar with security best practices or walk a dangerous line.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey