Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are the backbone of our economy. There are more than 33 million small businesses in the U.S., which account for 99.9% of all businesses. However, SMBs are also the backbone of cyberattacks, as small businesses often have fewer resources to devote to cybersecurity measures or lack the expertise needed to implement a robust strategy. As SMBs adopt digital ecosystems and incorporate artificial intelligence to grow and scale, the threat landscape shifts concurrently and we’re seeing new attack vectors and continually evolving threats. It’s treacherous out there, and your SMB must be prepared.

In this post, we share our top four emerging cybersecurity trends for 2024, including: AI-enhanced cyberattacks, ransomware evolution, remote work security, and the persistent cybersecurity skills shortage. We’ll explain what each trend means for your business—and how you can plan for and protect against the threats you’re most likely to face in the year ahead. 

Trend 1: AI-Enhanced Cyberattacks

When it comes to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword. As SMBs incorporate AI to increase productivity, reduce costs, and grow and scale their products and services, cybercriminals are also leveraging AI to refocus their tactics. If AI adoption was a race, cybercriminals might just be outpacing business and technology leaders. According to one report, 80% of technology decision-makers expect AI to increase the scale and speed of “stealthy and unpredictable” cyberattacks. 

Just think about it: AI will enable cybercriminals to analyze their strategies and increase the scope of their attacks. Artificial intelligence can be used to develop sophisticated malware, like phishing attempts that more accurately mimic a legitimate sender with improved graphics, believable text, and even deepfake videos of business executives. This makes it ever more challenging to spot and prevent a cyberattack.

The best defense is robust training across your SMB. You can educate your team on how to spot the signs of an AI-generated attack. It’s also smart to fight fire with fire and explore AI-driven cybersecurity measures. At a minimum, you should also employ protections like multi-factor authentication, software updates and patches, email security, and data protection and incident response.

Trend 2: Ransomware Evolution

By now, we’re all aware of the risk of ransomware, in which an attacker infiltrates your network, seizes and encrypts your data, and holds it hostage for a hefty ransom payment. (For more, here’s a primer on ransomware. Spoiler alert: don’t pay the ransom!) As mentioned above, AI is enabling sophisticated, hard-to-spot ransomware attacks. But we’re also seeing a worrisome evolution beyond data encryption toward new tactics like double extortion ransomware. In double extortion, an attacker doesn’t just hijack and encrypt your data until you pay up. Instead, they threaten to sell your proprietary and sensitive data to the highest bidder, publish it on the dark web, or permanently delete or restrict access to your data, even if you pay the ransom. The International Society of Automation explains that a double extortion attack can take things “to the next level” for your SMB. And these attacks don’t just target major corporations; every SMB can be the next victim of a double extortion attack.

The best defense is once again employee training and robust cybersecurity measures. Invest in vulnerability management tools (like penetration testing, in which a trusted partner attempts to infiltrate your network to identify vulnerabilities). At a minimum, you should also invest in a robust data backup and recovery plan. After all, if you have an immutable copy of all your data, an attacker can't really hold anything ransom. 

Trend 3: Remote Work Security

The global pandemic ushered in a remote work transformation. The trend is here to stay. Next year, the hybrid work model is expected to grow to more than 80% of businesses. By 2025, nearly 70% of our workforce will work remotely at least five days a month. This may make for happier employees but it also makes for more unprotected endpoint devices and increased vulnerabilities. The threat of mobile malware continues to rise, and more attackers will target these precarious endpoints to access your network. One report suggests that nearly half of all connected devices (like personal laptops, mobile phones, and tablets) are vulnerable to medium and high severity attacks.

To protect your network, protect your endpoints with up-to-date antivirus software, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems to help you block malware before it can even infect an endpoint device. Your team should also keep an eye on how your employees are logging into different systems. Remote logins or logging in from unusual locations or during odd hours could be a sign of an internal or insider threat.

Trend 4: Cybersecurity Skills Shortage

Our last cybersecurity trend for 2024 is the ongoing cybersecurity skills shortage. The shortage is especially felt among SMBs, which often have limited technology resources in the first place from which to thwart increasingly sophisticated attacks. It’s such a persistent and widespread challenge that Fortinet recently published a 2023 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report to highlight the issue—and what can be done about it. The report finds that nearly 70% of organizations indicate they face additional risks because of staff shortages. More than half of businesses struggle to recruit and retain talent, and, ironically, security roles are among the hardest to fill. 

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 SMB 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.

While we hope that 2024 will be a productive and profitable year for your SMB, we also know it will be challenging. Cyberattacks will continue to evolve. They’ll become more sophisticated and more damaging. The best defense is to take a proactive (versus reactive) approach to protect your business. Stay informed, adapt your security measures to our new reality, and—most importantly—seek expert help when you need it. A great place to start is with a risk assessment of your SMB.

At N8 Solutions, we offer a free Network Security Assessment and Audit. We organize a discovery session with your team to review your technology environment, assess your network security, review your software and configurations, and provide a customized audit report with recommendations. And it’s all free with no commitment required.  Please reach out today to set this up. We look forward to a strong and secure year ahead!