Kaspersky survey finds 86 percent of small and medium-sized businesses hit by cyber incidents last year

An overwhelming 86 percent of small and medium-sized businesses experienced at least one cyber incident in the past year, according to a new global survey by Kaspersky published on its website.

The survey lists phishing, software exploits, mass malware, ransomware, and AI-targeted attacks as the most damaging threats. Financial loss was the top consequence for 22 percent of respondents, with customer data theft and service disruptions close behind, according to Kaspersky.

Data theft was a primary goal for attackers. Kaspersky reports that client data was targeted in 32 percent of cases, while sensitive internal records like financial credentials were hit in 28 percent. The damage can be lasting: 16 percent of companies lost data they couldn’t recover, and 13 percent suffered permanent harm to their corporate assets.

IT and IT-security teams bore the brunt of these attacks, facing 50 percent and 46 percent of the most harmful incidents respectively. Accounting and finance departments were next, affected in 24 percent of cases. Kaspersky notes that severe incidents often hit multiple areas at once, with an average of three departments compromised simultaneously.

SMBs face a higher rate of attacks through customer-service channels (21 percent) compared to mid-market (15 percent) and large enterprises (17 percent).

To minimize risk, Kaspersky recommends deploying IT security monitoring solutions, integrating daily backup routines, and implementing strict access controls for corporate resources. Support these technical controls with continuous training on safe browsing and password hygiene for your employees.

One to read, not one to panic about. But if your front-desk PC or your email system handles client data, check your backups and your access logs this week. You don’t want to find out the hard way that your insurance doesn’t cover a phishing click.

Sources: kaspersky.com.