Good and bad news for securing smaller enterprise networks

Sometimes smaller enterprises may feel a sense of security from the belief that hackers are more likely to attack high value targets, such as large businesses and government agencies. However, a study by Verizon, in cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service and the Dutch High Tech Crime Unit, suggests that hackers have been increasingly targeting smaller businesses, presumably since the likelihood of getting caught and facing big penalties is lower.

While the study underscores the need for vigilance in enterprises of all sizes, it also reveals some good news for smaller organizations: The vast majority of attacks used techniques that could be thwarted by relatively low-cost, standard security measures.

According to the Verizon RISK Team's 2011 Data Breach Investigations Report, 63% of security breaches could be prevented by "simple and cheap" measures, while only 4% would have required the most advanced, expensive efforts to be prevented.