Cyber criminals aren’t slowing down, and neither are Aussie small business owners when it comes to protecting themselves, according to new data from BizCover.

New insights from BizCover show cyber insurance uptake among small businesses has skyrocketed by 50 per cent in the past year, and a whopping 85 per cent over the past three years. The surge comes as October marks Cyber Security Awareness Month, shining a light on just how exposed many businesses still are.

The Australian Signals Directorate’s most recent Cyber Threat Report revealed more than 87,000 cyber crime incidents were reported last year: that’s one every six minutes. Meanwhile, the average financial hit to a small business now sits at around $49,600 and small businesses account for 43 per cent of cyber attacks.

Small business: Too small to be a target?

This figure dispels one of the biggest myths amongst business owners that small business flies under the radar of cybercriminals.

“One of the most common reasons that business owners don’t take out Cyber Liability cover is because they believe they’re ‘too small’ to be a target. This couldn’t be further from the truth,” says BizCover’s Chief Information Officer, Akshaye Kalkura.

If the worst should happen and your business is compromised, Kalkura warns the fallout from an attack goes well beyond the immediate dollar figure. The clean-up bill is only part of the pain. Customer trust and staff confidence can also take a hit

“Without Cyber Liability cover, small businesses are exposed to operational disruption if their systems are taken offline, financial losses from investigations, legal fees, data recovery and lost income, as well as reputational damage if customer or supplier data is compromised,” said Kalkura.

.When cyber scams hit home

If you still think the threat of a cyber attack sounds a bit abstract, just ask the small business owners who’ve been caught out.

John Beaver, founder of Desky, knows the sting of a cyber attackl. One of his employees clicked on a dodgy email posing as a supplier and processed a fraudulent invoice. The damage? $4,700, before the bank stepped in.

John says the bigger blow was to his team’s confidence.

“Employees no longer trusted their email and were reluctant to take action,” he says. Desky has since rolled out phishing training and introduced a two-step invoice approval process.

“Good habits and clear SOPs protect a business more than depending on technology alone,” John adds.

In Melbourne, Micko from Primal Recovery was scammed out of $10,000 in a ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack when hackers intercepted his invoices and swapped in fake bank details.

“The only way to play it safe is to confirm all details before paying. Even I got caught out, and I’m a savvy tech junkie,” he admits.

Meanwhile, in Sydney, electrician Daniel Vasilevski from Pro Electrical narrowly dodged a similar fate when a spoofed supplier invoice almost tricked his team in June this year.

“It was a wake-up call about how vulnerable we are when it comes to even the simplest transactions,” Daniel says. “We used to assume if it looked like an invoice, it was legitimate. Now we have a two-step verification process for every transaction.”

Building a stronger cyber defence

There’s a pretty clear takeaway from these tales: Cyber crime doesn’t just hit the big end of town. Every day small businesses are being caught out.

While there’s no silver bullet for protection, small businesses are getting smarter about how they defend themselves. Strong habits such as staff training, two-step verification for payments and tighter approval processes can all make a massive difference in shutting down scammers before they strike.

Kalkura also points out that the rise in uptake of cyber insurance policies shows many businesses are waking up to the threat.

“With greater understanding of the threat landscape comes more focus on cybersecurity measures, including insurance; and heavier penalties for data privacy breaches mean that businesses aren’t willing to take chances when it comes to protecting customer data. They know what’s at stake.”

You can check out the findings from BizCover’s report here. Small business owners can also access free training from the CyberWardens program.

Want more? Get our newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! Follow Kochie’s Business Builders on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.