What Can Be Learned from the Most Recent DBIR

Since 2008, Verizon has released an annual report that details the cybersecurity incident trends from the beginning of the year. As usual, this year’s edition provided some insights into the patterns witnessed in 2019, hopefully giving us a greater appreciation for how cybercriminals are shaping their attacks. Let’s go over some of the trends that the Verizon Business 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) revealed to us.

Small Businesses are a Target

While this should go without saying, there is still the assumption in many smaller organizations that they are simply too small to be of any interest to a cybercriminal. This is a flawed assumption, and here’s why: data is data, regardless of where it comes from, which means that its value to a cybercriminal is left unaffected.

This assumption adds a significant shortcoming to the small business’ security by giving small businesses a false sense of their safety. With so many cyberattacks requiring very little (if any) effort into their execution, there is no reason that cybercriminals wouldn’t include small businesses. A bigger target list, taken care of through automated attacks, is only going to net the person responsible a greater payday.

Furthermore, many small businesses possess precisely the kind of data that would be of interest to a cybercriminal. Many doctors’ offices are relatively small operations but contain significantly valuable medical and payment information.

The Human Element is Often Involved

Based on the results outlined in the DBIR, a significant portion of successful attacks relied on a business’ biggest weakness: the relatively fallible and error-prone humans sitting at the controls. From the phishing attacks that bamboozle so many to the honest mistakes that we can all make; cybercriminals actively seek out opportunities to take advantage of these moments of vulnerability.

Proactive Upkeep is Half the Battle

To protect your business from threats, you need to keep up with these kinds of trends and work to resolve these issues proactively. SCW can help with this part. To learn what we can do to help your business, reach out to us at (509) 534-1530.