There is seemingly never a shortage of threats that small business owners face. When it comes to cybersecurity, SMEs are at just as much risk as larger corporations and being prepared could help avoid disaster.

In that regard, Kaspersky has identified some of the imminent dangers that are gaining popularity in the darker corners of the internet.

Of primary concern is the surge in popularity of password stealing malware Kaspersky refers to as Trojan-PSW. Detections of this malware increased 69 percent in the last year. This malware, as its name implies, steals passwords and other account information which can then be used to steal money or launch other attacks.

“For small companies today, it’s not a matter of whether a cybersecurity incident will happen but when. Having trained staff and an educated IT-specialist is no longer a luxury but a must-have part of your business development,” explains Denis Parinov, a security researcher at Kaspersky.

We highly recommend making use of multi-factor authentication to help mitigate damage should a password be stolen. While not an ironclad protection solution, it does help slow attackers down.

Looking globally, remote desktop protocol (RDP) attacks are on the rise. These attacks make use of remote desktop software and given the rise in working from home over the last few years, this makes a degree of sense.

While the same is not true for South Africa where RDP attacks are falling, it’s important to get a holistic picture of cybercrime to prepare defences.

“With the shift to remote working and the introduction of numerous advanced technologies in the daily operations of even small companies, security measures need to evolve to support these sophisticated setups. Cybercriminals are already way ahead of the curve, so much so that virtually every organisation will experience a breach attempt at some point,” Parinov concludes.

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