Think Your Business Is Too Small to Get Hacked? Think Again

In today’s digital era, no business—regardless of size—is immune from cyber-attack. According to the 2023–24 Annual Cyber Threat Report published by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), a cybercrime is reported in Australia every six minutes. Both state-sponsored actors and cybercriminals are targeting businesses of all scales, including micro and small enterprises.

Crucially, small businesses bear a heavy financial burden. The report reveals that the average cost per cybercrime incident for a small business is approximately AUD 49,600—a jump of 8 per cent from the previous year. To put this into perspective, that’s akin to a full year’s profit for many small Australian operators.

Cybercrime is becoming more frequent and more costly. The ASD’s hotline received over 36,700 calls in FY 2023–24—up 12 per cent—and the agency managed more than 1,100 cybersecurity incidents. The growing sophistication of attacks—ranging from business email compromise to ransomware and deepfake scams—means that even minimal vulnerabilities in outdated systems or employee awareness can be exploited.

The implications go beyond direct financial losses. Reputation damage and loss of client trust, which are rarely quantifiable, can devastate businesses, with many never recovering. Victims number in the tens of thousands, and while large organisations may absorb such costs, smaller businesses can be crippled.

What’s the way forward? The ASD emphasises that cyber resilience is not “set-and-forget.” Small enterprises should be implementing the “Essential Eight”—basic yet effective cyber-hygiene measures like patching, multi-factor authentication (MFA) and annual staff training. Industry bodies and government partnerships offer resources such as free incident response advice and threat-intelligence sharing.

In short, if you believe your business is too small to become a target, think again. Criminals don’t discriminate by revenue—they target weaknesses. With nearly 94,000 cybercrime reports logged last year, the message is clear: cyber-security must be seen not as optional, but essential—even for the smallest businesses.

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