What Happens to Your People in the Aftermath of a Cyber Attack on Your Small Business?
Brief: In this article, we explore what happens after a cyber attack on a small business, the impact on the people within your business, and what you can do about it.
“I would have followed you, my brother, my captain, my king.”
— Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring
Attacks and breaches on big international businesses are in the news all the time.
Yet, practically half of cyber attacks happen to small businesses, and when they happen, like Boromir, your employees look to you for leadership.
“But cyber attacks don’t happen to small businesses like mine,” you say.
Oh, but they do, and you rarely hear about them.
There are a number of reasons why you don’t hear about cyber attacks on small business:
First, many SMBs do not publicly report cyber attacks due to concerns over reputation damage or simply because they aren’t legally required to do so, depending on the nature and scale of the breach.
This leads to a visibility issue where other businesses may not hear about these incidents, perpetuating the belief that they are uncommon.
Additionally, major news outlets often focus on high-profile cyber attacks that involve large corporations or government agencies due to their broader economic and social impact.
As a result, attacks on SMBs, which are typically less dramatic in scale, receive significantly less attention.
More concerning is that SMBs might lack the resources to detect and properly analyze the extent of a breach. Without this capability, incidents might not even be recognized as cyber attacks, leading to a misunderstanding of their frequency and severity.
However, cyber attacks on SMBs DO happen, and they have a substantial impact on your team.
Hackers Don’t Target Your Business: They Cast a Net And Catch You
The idea that hackers specifically targeting your business can be a bit misleading.
More accurately, most cyber attackers use hacking methods that are more akin to casting a wide net rather than pinpoint targeting. This approach is about efficiency and maximizing potential returns with minimal effort.
Here’s a quick breakdown of this approach:
Broad-Scope Tactics
Hackers often deploy automated tools to scan the internet for vulnerabilities across a vast range of networks. These tools are indiscriminate, looking for any exploitable weaknesses rather than focusing on specific companies.
Techniques like phishing campaigns, where mass emails containing malicious links or attachments are sent to large numbers of users, are another example of this broad-scope tactic.
Vulnerability Exploitation
Once these tools identify vulnerabilities, such as outdated software, weak passwords, or unpatched systems, attackers exploit them to gain unauthorized access. This method is akin to throwing a bowling ball down an alley—aiming for the pins in general without targeting any specific one. The goal is to hit as many as possible, knowing that some pins (systems) will inevitably fall (be compromised).
Economies of Scale
By using methods that impact a wide range of targets, cyber criminals increase their chances of success. Even if only a small percentage of attempts succeed, the scale of the operation can make it profitable.
For example, a phishing campaign might only see a few recipients click on a malicious link, but if the campaign reaches tens of thousands, those few clicks can be enough to justify the effort.
SMBs as Collateral
SMBs like yours often become unintended victims. You’re not the specific focus of the attack, but because your defences are generally less robust than larger organizations, they are more likely to be compromised when caught in this wide net. SMBs may lack the resources for advanced cyber security measures or the cyber security expertise to effectively respond to these threats.
Resulting Impact
If your business is caught in one of these wide-net strategies, the impact can be disproportionately severe compared to larger organizations that might have more resilient systems and recovery protocols in place.
You may face significant operational disruptions, financial losses, and damage to customer trust, all from an attack that was not specifically aimed at them but rather at anyone vulnerable enough to be caught.
The Aftermath of a Cyber Attack on an SMB
During and for quite some time after an attack, if a business survives, leaders and employees can experience high levels of stress and anxiety due to financial losses, job security concerns, and overall uncertainty about the future of the business.
All is not lost though, for companies that have the right tools and response measures in place, much of this can be avoided and mitigated.
Cyber Attacks Take More Than Data or Money
If you’re like many business leaders, you genuinely care about your employees’ well-being.
You might now, however, fully grasp the emotional and psychological toll that incidents like cyber attacks can have on your team.
Some leaders may not be fully aware of the extent to which stress and anxiety from a cyber attack affect their employees. This is especially true if they have never experienced a significant security breach before.
Also, during a crisis, your primary focus is often on restoring operations and minimizing financial damage. Employee wellness might take a backseat to these immediate concerns, not out of disregard but due to the pressing need to ensure business survival.
There’s also a possibility that you simply underestimate the emotional impact of cyber attacks. Unlike physical threats or visible disasters, the effects of cyber incidents are intangible and can be difficult to recognize or measure without direct feedback from employees.
With this in mind, It’s crucial for you to consider the emotional toll on employees both during and after a cyber attack for several reasons:
Productivity and Engagement: Stressed and anxious employees are less productive and engaged, which can slow down recovery efforts and impact long-term business performance.
Retention: Employees who feel unsupported during crises are more likely to seek other opportunities. High turnover rates can exacerbate the challenges a business faces following a cyber attack.
Reputation: How a company treats its employees during crises can affect its reputation both internally and externally. A reputation for poor employee support can make it harder to attract and retain top talent.
Moral Responsibility: There’s a moral imperative for leaders to protect and support their workforce, not just in terms of physical safety but also concerning their mental and emotional well-being.
Let’s explore hypothetically what happens when a small business is attacked.
A Cyber Attack On A Small Business: Initial Breach and Immediate Impact
Cyber Attack On A Small Business Occurs
In the initial phase of an Attack, an attacker targets an SMB’s systems using a variety of techniques like malware, phishing, or by exploiting known vulnerabilities in network security. These methods are often chosen based on their likelihood of circumventing the existing, perhaps insufficient, security measures. For an SMB, these attacks are particularly dangerous because they can exploit smaller security teams and fewer defensive resources.
Detection and Identification
Following the breach, there is often a dangerous lag—where the intrusion remains undetected, and the attacker can maneuver within the network unnoticed. This period is critical as the longer the attacker remains undetected, the greater the potential damage. Many SMBs lack advanced detection capabilities, making early identification of breaches challenging. This gap in detection is a prime opportunity for attackers to explore the network, identify valuable assets, and plan further exploitation.
Operational Disruption
The impact of a cyber attack becomes acutely visible when critical systems start failing. These systems, essential for daily operations, when compromised, can lead to significant disruptions.
Production lines may stop, customer data may become inaccessible, and communication channels might be severed. For an SMB, the consequences of such disruptions can be disproportionately severe, affecting not just the business’s bottom line but also its long-term viability.
We would emphasize that the strategic alignment of cyber security investments with business objectives is crucial. Proactive security measures that not only prevent breaches but also minimize the impact should a breach occur. This includes implementing a robust cyber security framework, regular security training for employees, and continuous monitoring of network activities. These steps are vital for your SMB to protect your assets, maintain operational continuity, and safeguard your reputation in the face of cyber threats.
Cyber Attack On A Small Business: Assessment and Response
Once a cyber attack has been detected, an effective and immediate response is crucial to minimize the impact and prevent further damage.
This phase is typically structured into several key actions:
1. Emergency Response Activation
Internal Response Team: For businesses with established incident response capabilities, the first step is to activate the internal incident response team. This team is responsible for managing the response to the cyber incident according to a predefined incident response plan.
External cyber securityExperts: Smaller businesses, which might not have an in-house cyber security team, often need to quickly engage external cyber security experts. These specialists can provide the necessary expertise to handle the incident effectively. This external support can be critical, as they bring specialized knowledge and experience that the regular IT staff of a small business might lack.
2. Containment Efforts
Isolating Infected Systems: One of the initial containment measures is to isolate affected systems to prevent the spread of the attack. This involves physically or logically separating compromised systems from the network.
Changing Passwords and Credentials: Immediately changing passwords and other credentials is a critical step to lock out attackers from further access. This includes administrative passwords, user accounts, and any other potential entry points.
Securing Network Entry Points: This includes reviewing and strengthening the security of all network entry points. Effective measures might involve updating firewall rules, enhancing intrusion detection systems, and implementing stricter access controls.
3. Assessment of Damage
Data Loss Evaluation: Determining what data has been accessed, stolen, or corrupted is crucial. This assessment will help in understanding the scope of the breach and its potential consequences on the business and its customers.
System Compromise Assessment: This involves a thorough investigation to understand which systems were compromised and to what extent. It’s important to identify not only the point of entry of the attack but also how deep the attackers went into the system.
Impact on Business Operations: This assessment looks at how the breach has affected the business’s operations. Key considerations include downtime, the cost of interruption, and any impact on service delivery or production. This evaluation helps in understanding the immediate business implications and aids in the planning for recovery and business continuity.
Response and Strategic Importance
The steps taken in the Assessment and Response phase are critical not only for mitigating the effects of the current attack but also for preparing the business against future incidents. This phase allows businesses to gather key learnings from the incident, which can be used to strengthen the incident response plan and improve overall cyber security posture.
For small businesses, even if they lack extensive resources, understanding the importance of a rapid and organized response to cyber threats can make a significant difference in the resilience and recovery capacity of the business. Engaging with cyber security professionals and having a basic response plan in place can greatly enhance their readiness and response to cyber incidents.
Cyber Attack On A Small Business: Financial and Compliance Implications
After managing the immediate response to a cyber attack, SMBs must navigate the financial and compliance implications that arise. This phase is critical for assessing the broader impact of the breach on the business’s financial health and legal standing.
1. Cost Assessment
cyber security Remediation Services: One of the significant expenses following a cyber attack is the cost associated with cyber security remediation services. These services can range from hiring external cyber security experts to help recover data, repairing and reinforcing system vulnerabilities, to implementing more robust cyber security measures going forward.
Lost Revenue Due to Operational Downtime: During the period of disruption, when systems are taken offline for containment and investigation, businesses often face substantial revenue losses. The longer the downtime, the greater the impact on revenue, especially for businesses that rely heavily on continuous online operations.
Potential Fines for Non-Compliance: If the cyber attack leads to data breaches, especially involving sensitive customer information, SMBs may face regulatory fines and penalties for failing to protect that data. This is particularly significant under regulations such as GDPR in Europe, PIPEDA in Canada, or similar data protection laws that impose strict requirements on data security and penalties for non-compliance.
2. Insurance Claims
Filing Claims: Businesses with cyber security insurance will typically seek to claim some of the losses incurred due to the cyber attack. These claims can help mitigate the financial burden of recovery and cover costs such as those for remediation services and lost revenue.
Challenges with Claims: However, receiving compensation from insurance claims isn’t always straightforward. Insurers often require proof that the business has adhered to certain security standards and practices as part of the compliance terms of the policy. If a business failed to maintain these standards, which might include regular security audits, updated software systems, and effective data protection measures, their claims could be significantly reduced or outright denied.
Review and Update of Insurance Policies: Post-attack, it’s crucial for businesses to review their insurance policies to understand coverage specifics and possibly adjust their coverage to better suit their risk profile and operational needs. This can involve negotiating new terms with insurers or switching to policies that offer more comprehensive coverage, given the new understanding of potential risks.
Navigating Financial and Compliance Implications
This stage requires careful management as it involves not only recovering from immediate financial losses but also preparing for potential long-term financial and legal repercussions.
Effective management of these implications can define how well a business recovers from a cyber attack and its resilience against future incidents. For SMBs, understanding and actively managing these aspects with the help of legal and financial advisors can be critical to ensuring business continuity and maintaining compliance with relevant laws and regulations. This proactive approach is essential for safeguarding against further vulnerabilities and enhancing the business’s ability to withstand and recover from future cyber threats.
What Happens to Your People in the Aftermath of a Cyber Attack on Your Small Business?
The aftermath of a cyber attack can lead to varying final outcomes for SMBs, largely depending on how they managed the incident and its repercussions. These outcomes can range from recovery and adaptation to more severe consequences such as business closure or downsizing.
1. Survival and Adaptation
Enhancing cyber securityMeasures: Businesses that successfully navigate the aftermath of a cyber attack often do so by significantly enhancing their cyber security measures. This includes not only upgrading technology and systems but also improving employee training and awareness programs to prevent future incidents.
Restoring Customer Trust: Another critical aspect of survival and adaptation involves restoring trust with customers and stakeholders. This can be achieved through transparent communication about the breach, the measures taken in response, and the steps implemented to prevent future occurrences. Demonstrating a commitment to customer data protection helps rebuild confidence.
Strategic Business Changes: In some cases, surviving businesses use the incident as a catalyst for broader strategic changes. This might include revising business models, enhancing digital operations, and incorporating more robust data management and security practices into the core business strategy.
2. Closure or Downsizing
Financial Strain: For some businesses, the financial impact of a cyber attack is too severe to overcome. This includes the immediate costs of the attack, ongoing costs for enhanced security measures, potential fines, and lost revenue during and after the attack. When combined, these factors can strain financial resources beyond recovery.
Reputational Damage: The reputational damage from a cyber attack can deter customers, alienate partners, and tarnish business relationships, leading to reduced business opportunities. For SMBs that rely heavily on customer trust, such as those in service industries, this can be particularly devastating.
Downsizing and Layoffs: When financial and reputational impacts are severe, businesses may need to downsize operations to reduce costs. This can involve closing locations, reducing service offerings, or laying off staff. In extreme cases, if the business cannot stabilize its financial situation or restore customer trust, it may be forced to close entirely.
3. The Impact On Emotional Health and Wellness of Employees
The emotional health and wellness of employees can be significantly impacted by a cyber attack, and these effects can vary in intensity during the event, immediately afterward, and over the long term. The situation can be particularly stressful if the organization lacks robust systems and preparedness plans for handling such crises.
During the Cyber Attack
Stress and Anxiety: Employees may experience immediate stress and anxiety as they realize the security of their workplace is compromised. For those directly involved in addressing the breach, the pressure to mitigate damage quickly can be overwhelming.
Uncertainty and Fear: There’s often a profound sense of uncertainty and fear about the personal and professional consequences of the attack. Employees might worry about the safety of their personal information, job security, and the overall future of the company.
Immediately After the Cyber Attack
Continued Anxiety: Even after the immediate threat is contained, anxiety levels can remain high as employees deal with the fallout of the attack. The stress of potential data losses, financial impacts on the business, and expected workload increase due to recovery efforts can be considerable.
Distrust and Tension: Trust in your organization’s digital and physical security measures might erode, leading to tensions within the workplace. Employees could feel betrayed or let down by their employer, especially if they feel that the incident could have been prevented with better security practices.
Morale and Engagement: The morale and engagement levels may drop significantly, with employees feeling demotivated and less loyal to the organization. The disruption to regular work routines and additional stress can contribute to a less positive workplace atmosphere.
Long-Term Outlook
Chronic Stress and Burnout: Without proper support systems, the long-term stress of recovering from a cyber attack can lead to burnout, particularly among IT staff and those involved in remediation and restructuring efforts.
Mental Health Issues: Prolonged stress and anxiety can evolve into more serious mental health issues like depression, especially if your employees feel insecure about their job stability or the company’s direction.
Workplace Culture: Your broader workplace culture can suffer in the long term, with increased skepticism and lowered morale becoming the norm. Employees might feel less engaged and less willing to invest discretionary effort into their work.
Retention Challenges: Over time, if your business does not adequately address these issues, it might face higher turnover rates. Employees who do not see improvements in security measures or who continue to feel unsupported may seek employment elsewhere.
Mitigation and Support Strategies
To help mitigate these impacts, your business should consider the following strategies:
Transparent Communication: Keep employees informed throughout the crisis about what is happening, what the company is doing to address the issue, and how they will be protected from similar risks in the future.
Professional Support: Provide access to counselling services and professional mental health support to help employees cope with the stress and emotional fallout of the incident.
Rebuilding Trust: Work on rebuilding trust through consistent and visible actions to enhance security measures and by involving employees in security training and awareness programs.
Recognition and Support: Acknowledge the hard work and extra hours employees put in to help the company recover and provide support to prevent burnout, such as time off, flexible working conditions, and wellness programs.
By actively addressing these areas, you can help safeguard your operational capabilities while supporting the emotional well-being of your employees in the wake of a cyber attack.
Are You Ready For What Happens After A Cyber Attack On Your Small Business?
The final outcomes for businesses post-cyber attack highlight the critical importance of proactive cyber security measures and effective incident response strategies. For SMBs, investing in strong cyber security practices and planning for potential cyber incidents can make a significant difference in their ability to withstand and recover from such events.
Businesses that view cyber security not just as an IT concern but as a strategic business imperative are better positioned to handle the challenges of a cyber attack and emerge stronger.
Adaptation and learning from the incident play crucial roles in not only surviving but also thriving in the increasingly digital and interconnected business environment.