Many small businesses probably think they’re unlikely targets for cybercriminals. But the reality is, they’re targeted more than anyone else. Hackers commonly prey on small organizations because they assume they have weaker cybersecurity measures than larger enterprises. Taking the security of your technology infrastructure seriously is the best way to protect your business and prove them wrong.
In this guide, we list the most common ways hackers target small businesses today and how you can safeguard your organization, your employees, and your bottom line.
Table of Contents:
Why Do Hackers Target Small Businesses?
Small businesses are big targets for cybercriminals. According to a survey by Mastercard, 46% of small businesses surveyed experienced a cyberattack in 2025, and nearly 1 in 5 of them had to file for bankruptcy or close permanently.1
Hackers target small businesses because they often provide a high return with relatively low resistance. Many small organizations have weaker cybersecurity measures than larger businesses, despite also managing a high volume of sensitive data. This makes them easier to infiltrate using common tactics like phishing, weak passwords, or unpatched software vulnerabilities.
At the same time, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has made this threat even worse. In recent years, AI has enabled hackers to automate attacks, generate highly convincing phishing scams, and rapidly scale their efforts overall. As a result, small businesses face more frequent and sophisticated attacks than ever before.
That said, knowing how you’re most likely to be targeted is the first step toward protecting your business. Keep reading to learn the specific tactics cybercriminals are using today and the practical ways you can strengthen your defenses.
8 Ways Hackers Can Target Your Business
With the rise of AI-driven social engineering and more automated exploitation tools, small businesses face a growing range of threats. If you are a small or medium-sized business owner, staying informed and vigilant is more important than ever.
Below are some of the top ways cybercriminals target small organizations and the strategies you can use to stop them.
1. Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are fraudulent messages designed to trick recipients into clicking a malicious link, downloading a corrupt file, or sharing sensitive data. AI makes it easier than ever for cybercriminals to generate highly convincing emails or messages at scale.
Today’s phishing attempts are also often personalized, making them even harder to spot than the generic spam of the past.
How to Protect Your Business
Below are key strategies to protect your business from phishing attempts:
- Employee awareness training: educate staff on how to recognize and respond to fraudulent emails.
- Spam filtering: implement thorough spam filtering to prevent phishing emails from reaching inboxes.
- Data backup: regularly back up your data so it can easily be recovered in the event of a breach.
Staying proactive and informed is your first and strongest defense against phishing attempts.
2. Business Email Compromise
Business email compromise (BEC) is when a hacker impersonates a trusted contact to trick employees into sharing sensitive data or payment information. Unlike phishing, BEC attacks don’t always involve malicious links or attachments. Instead, hackers rely on urgency and social pressure to manipulate employees into making quick decisions.
A common example involves a ‘spoofed’ email from the CEO asking you to purchase gift cards for a client or an employee needing urgent changes to their direct deposit. Because the message appears to come from a trusted source, attackers are often able to exploit that trust and the natural human desire to be helpful.
How to Protect Your Business
Below are some of the main ways to protect your business from BEC attacks:
- Establish strict payment protocols: require verbal verification for any request to change bank, vendor, or payment details.
- Email authentication: implement email security standards like DMARC, DKIM, and SPF to help your mail server detect and block BEC messages before they ever reach an inbox.
- Incident response plan: ensure all team members know how to spot threats, pause transactions, and alert authorities if a compromise is suspected.
By staying vigilant and implementing the right defenses ahead of time, you can keep your business safer against BEC attempts.
3. Weak or Reused Passwords
Weak or reused passwords are among the easiest vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. In fact, a 2025 report analyzed over 19 billion compromised passwords and found that 94% of them were reused.2
Using AI, hackers can now automate “credential stuffing” attacks. This involves testing massive lists of stolen and leaked passwords across various platforms until they find a match. This means if even one password is used for multiple accounts, a single breach can expose several systems at once.
For instance, if an employee reuses a password for their work email and a personal shopping site, a breach of that site can also give attackers access to your business systems.
How to Protect Your Business
Below are some key strategies for keeping credentials private and secure:
- Create a password policy: establish a clear policy requiring all passwords to be complex, free of personal details, and never reused.
- Use a password manager: use vetted password management software to control access throughout your entire organization.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): enable MFA on all accounts to reduce the likelihood of a breach and alert users of unfamiliar login attempts.
Strong password practices are one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce your risk of a breach.
4. Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware is a type of malicious software (malware) that encrypts or locks you out of your own business systems until you pay a ransom. According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigation Report, 44% of all breaches that year involved ransomware.3
This report also found that roughly 88% of the organizations that were attacked were small and mid-sized businesses.3
How to Protect Your Business
Below are some ways to protect your small business from ransomware:
- Data backup and recovery: schedule regular backups and testing so critical data can be restored without paying a ransom.
- Endpoint monitoring: continuously monitor all devices for suspicious activity to stop threats before they spread.
- Software management: unpatched software is one of the most common entry points for ransomware, so make sure to keep all operating systems, software, and firmware up to date.
With the right preventative strategies, you can reduce the likelihood of a ransomware attack and keep your data secure.
5. Outdated or Unpatched Software
According to the 2025 Sophos Ransomware Report, 32% of the breaches analyzed were caused by unpatched software vulnerabilities.4 Outdated or unpatched software gives attackers a known entry point into your systems.
When software providers release updates, they often fix publicly disclosed vulnerabilities. Hackers can reverse-engineer these patches to understand exactly how to exploit systems that haven’t been updated yet. They then use automated bots to actively scan networks looking for unpatched entry points.
How to Protect Your Business
Below are some strategies for protecting your business from software vulnerabilities:
- Patch management: maintain a strict patch management schedule so all operating systems, applications, and firmware are kept up to date.
- Automate software updates: automate as many updates as possible to minimize windows of opportunity for hackers.
- Software inventory: regularly audit your tech stack to identify outdated, unsupported, or redundant applications before they become a liability.
By keeping all software patched and updated, you can reduce vulnerabilities and keep your business secure.
6. Supply Chain Attacks
A supply chain attack is when hackers target the vendors, software providers, or service partners that businesses rely on, rather than attacking the organization directly. By compromising a trusted third-party system, attackers can inject malicious code, steal data, or gain backdoor access to all downstream customers.
Supply chain attacks are especially dangerous because they can scale quickly, impacting many organizations from a single point of compromise.
How to Protect Your Business
Below are some strategies for protecting your business from supply chain attacks:
- Rigorous vetting: thoroughly vet all third-party vendors, software providers, and partners before granting system access.
- Zero Trust: implement a Zero Trust framework where no user or device is trusted by default, and access is limited to only what is necessary.
- Software management: keep all applications patched and up to date to minimize vulnerabilities.
With thorough IT security practices, you can strengthen your organization’s defenses against potential supply chain attacks.
7. Malicious Websites or Ads (Drive-by-Downloads)
“Drive-by-downloads” are when hackers use malicious websites or ads to install malware onto your device. Attackers either create convincing clones of popular sites or place malicious ads on websites to trick people into clicking on them.
One click is all it takes for a drive-by-download to instantly install malicious malware directly onto a company device without any obvious warning. Once infected, the system can be used to steal data, deploy ransomware, provide remote access to attackers, and more.
How to Protect Your Business
To prevent drive-by downloads, consider implementing the following strategies:
- Continuous monitoring: constantly manage devices and network activity in real time to catch threats before they spread.
- Network segmentation: separate isolated subnetworks to prevent malware from spreading to critical systems. For example, have a separate Wi-Fi network for guests.
- Web filtering: block access to high-risk websites before they have the chance to load.
With the right safeguards in place, you can avoid drive-by downloads and prevent malware from spreading across your entire infrastructure.
8. Smart Device Vulnerabilities
Any device connected to your internet is a potential entry point for hackers to quietly access critical business data. Smart device vulnerabilities occur when electronics such as security cameras, printers, routers, and other internet-connected devices have weak security settings or outdated software.
Many of these devices rely on default passwords and limited built-in security protections, making them easy targets if they are not properly secured. Attackers scan networks for vulnerable devices and exploit known flaws to gain access to your broader business systems.
How to Protect Your Business
Below are some strategies for protecting your business from smart device vulnerabilities:
- Secure network organization: segment all smart devices on their own isolated network to prevent potential malware spread in the event of a breach.
- Change default passwords: as soon as a new device is set up, make sure to change the default manufacturer password to something complex and unique.
- Regular patches & updates: enable automatic updates or set strict patch schedules for all device firmware to eliminate security flaws.
With the right controls in place, you can prevent smart devices from becoming potential entry points for hackers to infiltrate your business.
Secure Your Business with Managed IT Support
As technology grows more sophisticated, so do hackers and their attack methods. Proactive security measures, continuous monitoring, and proper IT management can significantly reduce your exposure to cybersecurity threats.
Ready to secure your future? As a managed service provider with over 40 years of experience, the True IT team is here to help. Contact us today for a free consultation. Let’s identify your vulnerabilities together and build a resilient defense that keeps your business secure for years to come.
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