Challenge for SMBs

Since the huge retailer Target Corp was breached, we have seen a whole host of other retailers being targeted by hackers, including eBay, Neiman Marcus and P.F. Chang’s.

But the Target Corp breach was huge – information on 40 million credit and debit cards was stolen, along with records of 70 million customers, including name, address, email address and phone number.

There is an interesting correlation between the breaches at these large organisations and the modern day threat faced by small business.

SMBs often consider these larger companies to have a bull’s eye on their back and believe their own business is immune to the kinds of attacks that are wreaking havoc on larger company networks, but the reality is they are susceptible to the same nefarious forces – sometimes even more so.

Just because a company is small, that doesn’t mean it can’t net huge payoffs for attackers. Often, a breach against a small fry can yield useful data for attackers seeking to target bigger fish. So a series of easy attacks against more-vulnerable small businesses can ultimately enable a hacker to orchestrate a much bigger attack elsewhere, while uncovering plenty of valuable spoils ranging from employee data and cloud logins to customer data and banking credentials.

Target Corp

The breach at Target Corp began with a malware-laced email phishing attack sent to employees at a HVAC firm that did business with the retailer. The hackers then moved from the suppliers network laterally onto the Target Corp systems and commenced the world’s largest data breach. In other cases we have seen the breaches occurring through printers, video conferencing, vending machines and billing systems of the smaller suppliers who have access to the larger company networks.

In another recent case when hackers were unable to breach the network of a large utility provider, they used malware to infect the online menu of a restaurant that was popular with employees. When the workers browsed the menu, they inadvertently downloaded code that gave the attackers a foothold in the business’s vast computer network. This type of threat is know as a watering hole attack and is the online equivalent of a predator lurking by a watering hole and pouncing on its thirsty prey.

In addition SMBs are attractive targets for hackers because they generally tend to run slightly older systems and don’t have the same budgets or personnel bandwidth to invest in cyber security.

A regular commentator on my blogs David Byrne VMware recently said

within a few hours a hobbyist could, using metasploit and its packages, take full ownership of an environment simply by performing a vulnerability scan on an ip and thus targeting it with detected vulnerabilities

The stark reality of a serious breach is that the financial damage is often bad enough to put the company out of business. Two recent examples of this were codespaces.com & hotelhippo.com who both had to close their doors after a breach with significant data loss.

My 3 basic tips to help SMBs with security:

1) The first step for small businesses is to recognise that you are at risk. You don’t need to be a cyber security expert to ensure that your business has protection but it’s critical that you understand the online threats to your company’s network. Awareness of key threats—like spam and phishing—will help you employ practices and behaviors that limit your company’s risk.

2) Run vulnerability scans at least once every quarter. This scan will examine your firewalls, servers, applications, routers, and anything else that pertains to your network. Every time something changes on your computer network there is the possibility of new vulnerabilities being introduced. These vulnerabilities need to be identified and locked down.

3) Cyber Security Awareness Training: It’s important for employees to understand basic cyber security hygiene, including keeping a clean machine. Don’t use the same password on multiple accounts. Don’t follow unknown web links. Learn to spot phishing threats. Make sure all your staff knows this stuff and are vigilant.

Smarttech247 – Published by Ronan Murphy (@Smarttech01)

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