What SMEs Should Take From the Surge in Cyberattacks

31st March 2022

ESET’s March 2022 Threat Report arrived during a period of heightened global tension, and its findings matter directly to SME’s.

The report highlights a sharp rise in destructive malware, especially wipers (currently being used in the Ukraine conflict). While that may feel remote, history shows that the tools developed in major geopolitical events rarely stay contained; they eventually circulate among criminal groups targeting everyday businesses.

One of the most relevant trends for SME’s is the continued exploitation of remote-access systems. Attackers are brute-forcing RDP, harvesting weak password credentials and scanning the internet for unpatched or poorly maintained endpoints.

Small businesses that rely on remote access without MFA, monitoring, or account-lockout policies are sitting on unseen risks.

ESET also notes increased activity from state-aligned groups like Sandworm and Mustang Panda. These groups create tools and exploits that inevitably find their way into financially motivated cybercrime, raising the baseline level of danger for smaller organisations.

For small and medium sized businesses the message is clear: the threat landscape is evolving faster than most internal teams can track.

Strengthening identity controls, hardening remote access, and enhancing endpoint visibility are no longer “nice to have” – they’re becoming essential.

As an SME-focused IT provider, we consistently see that cyber incidents often result from small gaps that could have been addressed proactively and incidents that could be avoided through proper maintenance and housekeeping. Reports like ESET’s are a reminder that it’s time to reassess security before these trends turn into direct impacts.

If you’re unsure of how your system security stacks up, contact us to evaluate your IT infrastructure, network or computer systems.

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