Phishing attacks are not just a threat to large organizations. Like all cybersecurity threats, it’s just as much as concern for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), who can pay a high price if they fall victim.
Phishing is a social engineering tactic – threat actors use deception to trick employees into sharing sensitive information or access credentials to critical systems through emails or messages that look as though they are coming from a reliable source and requesting the user to act.
Because SMBs face resource constraints when it comes to cybersecurity, including training that helps employees spot phishing scams, they are more likely to fall prey to these tactics, and the price tag for the business can be high.
Among the immediate, direct consequences of a successful phishing attack for SMBs are monetary loss, reputation damage, and the recovery costs.
Bad actors use phishing to get users to share sensitive financial information that can lead to unauthorized and fraudulent transactions to steal company funds, which puts the stability of the business of risk – perhaps to the point of being insolvent. In addition to money, a phishing attack can steal valuable intellectual property, which is also a financial loss, and can lead to a loss of competitive advantage.
Depending on the nature of the breach caused by the successful phishing attempt, the business could be subject to legal and regulatory fines.
Phishing attacks are also used to demand ransomware payments by holding business systems or critical data hostage through encryption – payment terms can be high if the business wants to get the data back.
Investigating and mitigating the costs of a phishing-related breach also cost time and money, as do the indirect costs such as disruption to business operations – if you can’t serve your customers, you can’t make money.
Another indirect cost of a phishing attack is higher insurance premiums if it results in a data breach or financial loss because the business is now viewed by their insurer as a higher-risk client.
Depending on the length of the interruption, a disabling phishing attack can harm your reputation and damage your relationship with your customers and even prevent new customers from trusting you with their business. Suppliers and partners may also reconsider whether they can continue to do business with you.
A successful phishing attack can have both immediate and long-term consequences for SMBs. A managed services provider with security expertise can help you make the right upfront cybersecurity investments to prevent phishing from costing you a lot more money as well as your reputation.
There are many ways artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning already impact cybersecurity. You can expect that trend to continue in 2024 – both as tools for data protection as well as a threat.
Balancing Cybersecurity Innovation Amid Evolving Threat Landscapes
Even as you implement AI and machine learning into your cybersecurity strategy through the adoption of tools like Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR), so are threat actors. They will continue to update and evolve their own methodologies and tools to compromise their targets by applying AI and machine learning to how they use ransomware, malware and deepfakes.
With small and medium-sized businesses just much at risk as their large enterprise counterparts, SMBs must take advantage of AI and machine learning as mush possible. AI-directed attacks are expected to rise in 2024 in the form of deepfake technologies that make phishing and impersonation more effective, as well as evolving ransomware and malware.
Deepfake social engineering techniques
Deepfake technologies that leverage AI are especially worrisome, as they can create fake content that spurs employees and organizations to work against their best interests. Hackers can use deepfakes to create massive changes with serious financial consequences, including altering stock prices.
Deepfake social engineering techniques will only improve with the use of AI, increasing the likelihood of data breaches through unauthorized access to systems and more authentic looking phishing messages that are more personalized, and hence, more effective.
Countering Cyber Threats and Harnessing Innovation in 2024
If hackers are keen on leveraging AI and machine learning to defeat your cybersecurity, you must be ready to combat them in equal measure – just as AI and machine learning will create new challenges in 2024, they can also help you bolster your cybersecurity. While regulations are being developed to foster ethical use of AI, threat actors are not likely to follow them.
AI will also affect your cyber insurance as your providers will use it to assess your resilience against cyberattacks and adjust your premium payments accordingly. AI presents an opportunity for you to improve your cybersecurity to keep those insurance costs under control.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of doom being predicted around the growing use of AI and machine learning. And while it does pose a risk to your organization and its sensitive data, you can use it to bolster your cybersecurity even as threat actors leverage AI to up the ante. A managed service provider with a focus on security can help you use AI and machine learning to protect your organization as we head into 2024.
