Expert warns small businesses of cybersecurity threats

As cyberattacks have been gaining momentum in recent years, one local expert cautions small businesses in particular to keep a close eye on digital operations.

“When you think about small to medium-sized businesses, there’s not a lot of margin for error,” said Bill Meara, who serves as president of Acrisure’s cyber services division.

Meara — who has a background in advertising, sports media technology and private equity — now heads the Grand Rapids-based fintech leader’s team of risk mitigation professionals who focus on integrating cybersecurity resources with cyber risk management offerings.

Currently, the Acrisure cyber services team has experienced cybersecurity insurance claims at an all-time high as attacks occur on businesses every 14 seconds. Meara also pointed to a statistic that 30,000 websites are hacked every single day in North America alone.

For small businesses, the fees and damages associated with these cyberattacks are especially costly.

“We’ve been very focused on the small business space, and every time there’s a ransomware attack, the payout for that is $570,000,” Meara said. “So, if you’re a small business and you have a million dollars in the bank and you’re managing payroll, and your entire portfolio of clients and their information is at risk, you basically are on the hook to pay out this $570,000. But the bigger part, as far as the damages that are caused on a cyberattack breach, you’re looking at around $3.6 million.”

Meara also said 60% of small businesses go out of business within six months of a cyberattack.

The statistics are startling, but preventive measures are crucial for combating the growing pattern of cyberattacks. Meara encouraged small business owners and managers to begin by better understanding the environments where employees are working and operating in addition to the devices used by employees on an everyday basis.

“Are your employees working from home? Are they on the road? What percentage of time is being spent on very specific devices? That could be anything from iPads to cell phones to desktops to laptops,” he said. “It’s important to understand how many assets, not just employees, but assets are within a company and the percentage of time that’s being spent on those specific assets.”

Now that air travel is approaching pre-pandemic levels, Meara also highlighted the risks and complications that could occur by tapping into public Wi-Fi networks in airports or airplanes. Most airport networks are not secure and can be improperly configured — a prime opportunity for hackers.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for employees to be opened up to exposure and click on one small ad, or what you think is an article but it’s really not, and bring you into the dark web and grab as much information from you as you can,” Meara said. “That’s anything from information that you’re sharing and texting on your cell phone about bank accounts to personal information about clients and so forth.”

One important method for protecting data and information, according to Meara, is enabling multi-factor authentication for logins. When users provide two or more verification factors to log in to company websites or software, such as a password and a code from a text message, access becomes more secure.

“A lot of small businesses don’t have multi-factor authentication … there’s no protection there,” Meara said.

A comprehensive solution is important for businesses of any size to help prevent cyberattacks. But Meara also emphasized the lack of an automatic fix for this type of problem, warning business owners that the presence of a cyber insurance policy does not automatically ensure safety.

“Cybersecurity, IT, cyber insurance — none of them are like a silver bullet,” he said. “Just because you have a cyber insurance policy doesn’t mean you’re going to not get attacked or breached. You need to also have cybersecurity and a good understanding of your software and hardware.”

Looking ahead, Meara expects Acrisure’s cyber services division to continue to grow as more businesses begin to recognize the risks of cyberattacks. He said he hopes Acrisure can serve as the best resource — not only for small businesses but for any client.

“We want this to be a solution for everybody,” Meara said.

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