According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre, reports of cyber crime against small businesses continue to rise, with average losses reaching tens of thousands of dollars per incident. But who are these attackers, and what are their methods?
1. Business Email Compromise (BEC)
In BEC attacks, criminals gain access to a corporate email account, often through phishing, and intercept financial transactions. They will quietly monitor emails and, when an invoice is sent, manipulate the bank details. Essential Eight Mitigation: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) effectively stops 99% of BEC attacks originating from stolen passwords.
2. Ransomware
Ransomware encrypts a company’s vital files, completely halting operations until an extortion fee is paid. Essential Eight Mitigation: Regular, isolated backups ensure you can restore systems without paying the ransom. Additionally, Application Control stops the ransomware executable from running in the first place.
3. Malicious Office Macros
A classic but effective trick. An employee receives an urgent "Invoice.doc" which prompts them to "Enable Content." This executes a macro that downloads a Trojan. Essential Eight Mitigation: "Configure Microsoft Office Macro settings" ensures that only macros signed by a trusted publisher (or entirely disabled) can run, closing this massive vector.
Secure Your Business Strategy
Do not wait to become a statistic. Defending against these threats requires knowing which defenses are missing. Check your defenses with our Free Essential Eight Compliance Checker.