Ah, the end of the year! A time to reflect on the past year and to gather with friends and family for the holidays. It’s also a time to focus on the year ahead and all that you hope to accomplish at your business. Unfortunately, the new year will bring a most unwelcome guest: cybercriminals.  As we prepare for a strong 2023, new cybersecurity risks are on the horizon, especially for SMBs. TechRepublic writes that “cybercriminals will be as busy as ever” next year. 

The best way to protect yourself is to know what you’re up against. Here, we present the top three risks for your business in 2023—and how you can prevent them.

Malware and Phishing Attacks Target your Collaboration Tools

Malware and phishing attacks will remain a key threat for SMBs in the year ahead, and the ransomware ecosystem will continue to evolve. In the first half of the year, we saw 2.8 billion malware attacks worldwide and over 236 million ransomware attacks. By the end of this year, six billion phishing attacks are expected.

The transformation to remote and hybrid work complicates things further, as employees now rely on collaboration tools like Slack, Teams, OneDrive, and Google Drive. These are necessary platforms to keep users connected and productive. But hackers know this too. Previously, we saw nefarious actors target email accounts for phishing scams but, in the year ahead, we expect them to increase exploits on these critical collaboration tools. A survey finds that more than half of technology leaders find cloud vulnerability to be a top concern.

• Defend your business in 2023: Remote work has opened new avenues for scams, and your business must be prepared to deal with the threat. Make sure you have the proper security measures in place, including VPN, endpoint security, and anti-malware protection. Hackers will still use email as a means of attack—routinely patch your software and establish an email security and filtering system to help identify and block ransomware emails before they reach your users. You should also provide cyber awareness training to your employees to help ensure a better defense for your business. For more, see this post on best practices for effective cybersecurity training for your staff.

Internal Employees Pose an Unintentional Risk

Targeted, nefarious malware attacks are one risk to your business, but what about the unintentional risks you face? With hybrid working here to stay, there’s a strong chance your own employees could be putting your company at risk—without even knowing it! We’re all capable of developing bad habits, like setting or reusing weak passwords or working from unsecured personal devices. A majority of technology leaders think their employees have picked up “bad cybersecurity behaviors” since working from home. Work-from-home cybersecurity is now a priority for businesses, as users can easily fall victim to phishing attacks and impersonation scams; there’s also a risk they leave these personal devices unattended in public spaces.

• Protect your users in 2023: We must adjust to the new reality of hybrid work. Consider a comprehensive endpoint detection and response solution to prevent attackers from entering your network via multiple endpoints. Another way to reduce risk is with employee monitoring, which allows you to better enforce robust security practices across your organization, even when users are offline. The right employee monitoring solution will enable your team to define what exactly constitutes dangerous activity, and set actions to automatically warn, block, or lock out users when these rule violations are detected. A monitoring solution can also improve personal connection between your employees and lead to better project management. For more, see this post on the top benefits of employee monitoring. 

The Persistent Cybersecurity Skills Shortage 

You’re probably aware of and dealing with the global cybersecurity skills shortage. Even if you have a robust cybersecurity plan in place, the skills gap could mean that you lack the proper internal skills to fully implement the plan and protect your business. The shortage is being felt everywhere—estimates suggest we have a cybersecurity workforce gap of 2.72 million positions, and the workforce needs to grow by 65% to effectively defend our collective businesses. It’s not an easy challenge to overcome, and it won’t be solved overnight. The shortage is especially felt among SMBs, which often have limited technology resources in the first place from which to thwart increasingly sophisticated attacks. Hackers know this, which is exactly why they so often target small businesses. 

• Counter the skills shortage in 2023: Protect your company by tapping into external resources or a managed services provider (MSP), like N8 Solutions. Working with an MSP gives you access to skills and expertise that you may not have internally and ensures that your company remains secure. Most MSPs will offer highly customizable, affordable solutions, so you only pay for what you need. With the right partner, you’ll essentially extend the capacity of your internal technology team, freeing them up to focus on other business-critical projects.

As you turn the last calendar page of the year, we hope you keep these three risks in mind. Staying informed is the first step to staying protected. Is your team and your technology infrastructure ready for 2023? Please reach out to book a free assessment anytime. We wish you a strong, secure, and successful year to come!