Cyberattacks most harmful for small business, SME’s underestimate risk

Small and medium sized companies are increasingly the victims of cyber crimes and are often hit the hardest because they underestimate the risks, according to ABN Amro. 23 percent of SMEs in the Netherlands were attacked over the internet this year, compared to 11 percent of larger companies. "A larger companies increasingly have their security against cyber criminals better in order, SMEs are more often the victim of cybercrime", according to the bank's analysts. "Small businesses are however still relatively lagging behind in attention for and investment in cyber security." Cybercrime can hit companies in several ways, including extra IT costs, higher insurance premiums, a negative credit rating and the loss of essential information. Smaller companies especially struggle with the costs needed to protect their systems. There are a number of ways in which cyber criminals attack. One form of attack that was frequently in the news this year is a DDoS attack, in which criminals block a website by sending so much internet traffic its way that the servers can't handle it. Another popular attack is hackers breaking into servers to steal sensitive information. Ransomware is also becoming increasingly popular. Ransomware locks up a part of a computer until the owner pays money for its release. Last year cybercrime cost the Dutch society 9 billion euros, about 1.5 of the gross domestic product.