Winter is coming and so are the hackers

A survey from Defcon 17 back in 2009 revealed that 81 percent of hackers are more likely to be active in winter.

It's easy to understand why this might be, with the holiday period bringing a spike in online trading as well as businesses closing down or operating on skeleton staffs.

Ethical hacker and cybersecurity expert Conor O'Neill from OnSecurity reveals that startups and smaller businesses, far from being too small to be hacked are in fact more vulnerable and easier to target than ever and it's most likely to happen in winter.

He points out that many startups underestimate their vulnerability to cyber threats, erroneously believing that hackers only target larger organizations with more significant financial resources and sensitive data, when in fact it's the opposite.

When a small startup is hacked, it never reaches the media, which creates a false perception that this is a big company problem. In fact, large corporations are the minority and small business owners are the real targets when it comes to cyberattacks.

"Let me be extremely clear," says O'Neill. "If you think you're too small to be a target for hackers, you might have an unwanted Christmas gift waiting for you, because you are the target. A cyber attack occurs every 39 seconds. It's crucial for small business owners, startups and entrepreneurs to recognise the real risks they face in the digital landscape."

O'Neill suggests three things that businesses can do to protect themselves. Firstly they should conduct a penetration test every 12 months to understand how exposed they are to threat. Many businesses choose to use an integrated suite, allowing full visibility on lead-time, cost and findings.

Secondly gather intelligence through attack surface monitoring. By collecting and analyzing data about threats businesses can always stay one-step ahead of the modern cyber criminals and ensure sensitive data remains secure.

Finally they need to be on top of patch management. Attackers constantly mass-scan the internet for known vulnerabilities that can be used to compromise organizations. Vulnerability scanning helps detect and remediate infrastructure vulnerabilities rapidly.

A free 14-day trial of OnSecurity's threat intelligence platform is available on the company's site.

Photo Credit: HomeArt / Shutterstock