Becoming a cybercrime victim could hurt your business in similar ways to a robbery. You might lose money, lose the trust of your customers, be forced to close temporarily or, in the worst case, permanently.
Cyber criminals actively target businesses of all sizes. For small businesses, the impacts can be severe - from theft of customer and staff information to disruption of operations or direct financial loss. Criminals often assume smaller organisations have fewer protections in place, making them appealing targets.
Taking practical steps to protect your systems, data and people can significantly reduce the likelihood and impacts of cyber incidents.
How cyber aware is your small business?
Strong cyber security is just as critical to your business as physical security. Every day, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) receives reports from business owners across the country who have fallen victim to cyber incidents. These range from paying fraudulent invoices to scammers, to employees accidentally clicking on malicious links that could cripple your business. The trend is alarming and growing, and many small businesses think they are too small to be targeted. The statistics show otherwise.
Cyber-attacks targeting small businesses cost an average of $56,600 per incident (1). In fact, 62% of Australian small and medium-sized businesses have experienced a cyber incident (2).
Relying solely on anti-virus software is no longer enough to keep your business safe.
References
- Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-2025
- Cyber Security and Australian Small Businesses Results from the Australian Cyber Security Centre Small Business Survey
Common cyber threats
Ransomware and extortion
Ransomware and extortion can happen when a criminal steals sensitive information, threatening to publish or sell it unless you pay a ransom. Attacks like these can also impact your suppliers, exposing any information about you that they hold or disrupting a critical service you rely on.
Phishing and scams
Phishing attacks on businesses can relate to scams but are also used to steal passwords and access computer systems. Emails, text messages, social media messages and voice calls pretending to be from someone familiar can contain instructions, website links or files that tempt you into revealing information or performing an action that helps the criminal.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Criminals can steal money by impersonating staff, customers or suppliers. If a criminal can read your, or a supplier’s emails they can impersonate an employee to redirect payroll, send invoices with altered bank details, or order goods fraudulently.
Protecting your staff, customers and business
Check your cyber pulse
The ACSC offers a quick 5-minute Cyber Health Check for individuals, small businesses, and not-for-profits. If you want to improve your cyber security but don’t know where to start, this tool is the perfect first step.
Take the Cyber Health Check now and safeguard your business today!
Learn the basics
The ACSC also has a range of resources for small businesses that cover these topics and more, and a free alert service to hear about new cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
- Threats – A behind-the-scenes look at cyber crime.
- Small business – Some basic steps to get you started.
- Sign up for alerts – Know about what can happen before it does.
Expand your cyber knowledge with free courses
Cyber Wardens is a free national initiative sponsored by the Australian Government which provides free online learning and a range of support for small business owners and employees. Cyber Wardens can help you create a strong, on-going culture of security in your workplace.
Get with the program
All businesses can apply to be partners with the Australian Signals Directorate, providing a wider range of resources and support specific to Australia.
Be prepared
Scamwatch and ID Support NSW have guides which describe the types of scams you should be aware of, what to look for and how to get help if personal information is stolen.
If you think you’re a victim…
If you spot a scam or something suspicious, you can report it to Scamwatch to help warn others.
If you are the victim of a scam or cyber incident, report it through the ReportCyber website to alert the ACSC and law enforcement.
If you aren’t sure, the ACSC has a tool to help you decide.