During the recent pandemic, businesses of all calibres migrated online to
keep their services operating while their workers were forced to physically
isolate. This incidentally provided many more opportunities for malicious
cyber-criminals who are able to target small businesses which have no
experience in defending against cyber-attacks.
It is expected that the majority of cyber-attacks performed in the coming years
will be against smaller businesses. Cyber-criminals know that while larger
businesses may hold a lot of potentially valuable data, they are also much more
likely to have already invested in strong cyber-security measures and in-house
cyber-security experts. It is for this reason that many small businesses are
looking to hire in-house cyber-security experts of their own who can protect
their businesses from cyber-attackers.
Cyber-attacks can be devastating to small businesses, as it may force them to
temporarily remove their products from supply chains and may also trigger legal
fees, investigations and regulatory filings. It can have a drastic effect on
other businesses as well, who may be reliant on the product provided by the
afflicted business. Dr. Yoohwan Kim, a computer science professor at the
University of Nevada in Las Vegas, says this: "They may be a small company but
what they sell to large businesses could be very important. If they're hacked,
[their product] won't be fed into supply chains and everything will be
affected."
Once a company has been compromised by hackers, those attackers are then able to
sift through the company’s connections to find more targets. Companies
desperately want to avoid being the single weak link that allows attackers to
ravage an entire chain of businesses because it has a detrimental effect on
future business relationships. Most businesses will only want to work with other
businesses that are known to be secure because it ensures that both are
protected.
Despite small businesses being the most vulnerable to cyber-attackers, most
cyber-security tools are actually designed for large companies, meaning they are
often difficult to understand and install without an in-house expert. Educating
employees on how to avoid and detect attacks is also important, since the vast
majority of data breaches involve human error. This consequently means that
every company wants to hire cyber-security experts because it will allow them to
reinforce every facet of their business. Due to their necessity, cyber-security
experts can expect an average starting salary of around £30,000 but with enough
time and experience can eventually be earning upwards of £100,000.