In the last few years there has been many large and well-known organisations that have fallen victim to substantial supply chain attacks, think British Airways and Ticketmaster. As an SME, you may be left thinking what impact does this have on my small business and surely, they were targeted because their profits are so high?
Regardless of whether you own a beauty salon, a plumbing and heating company or run a private gym, you will have a long list of suppliers that deliver everything from your booking, invoicing, and payment systems to supplying the refreshments that you provide to your customers. In fact, over 33% of businesses said they were not aware of how many external suppliers they use.
It is this long list of suppliers that makes SMEs more appealing to cybercriminals, as they can compromise multiple clients with one attack, giving cybercriminals the type of return on investment that they like to see.
So, why else are SMEs a key target for supply chain attacks?
What could happen as a result of a supply chain attack on an SME?
Those behind cyber-attacks on SME’s are looking to make a financial profit at the expense of your company. Often hackers will steal your companies and customers data by deploying a ransomware attack, where your data is held at ransom, and you will be forced to pay a fee to regain access to that data. If that fee is paid, they will take this as profit and they could still sell your data to a buyer on the dark web where they will make further money.
Further financial damage and reputational damage may occur as a result of:
To help businesses in the UK, the Government published new plans to boost the country’s digital supply chains. These plans revealed that almost a third of UK firms with digital supply chains are vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
What can SME businesses do to avoid a supply chain attack?
How can The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands help businesses across the region?
Our mission is simple, we exist to help businesses of all sizes (although we do focus on SME’s, micro businesses, and sole traders) to better protect themselves in the fight against cybercrime. We do this by developing your knowledge in key areas so that you can implement basic methods of cyber hygiene. To help you guard your business from cyber-attacks in the same way you would protect your premises against fire and flood, we offer free membership. This gives you access to regular simple, easy to follow guidance, tools, and resources as well as the opportunity to have a jargon free 1:1 conversation to help you understand your current business cyber related risks. Join today at www.wmcrc.co.uk/membership
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