New data reveals up to 309,000 Australian small businesses say they’ve been targeted by cyberattacks, yet many are forced to cut cybersecurity costs

Mastercard partners with 17-year-old ethical hacker to create 'Cyber secure in 60 seconds,' a ten-part content series containing simple, low cost and actionable insights for small business

A new study commissioned by Mastercard has unveiled the eye-opening scope of cyber-attacks among Australia’s small business leaders, with 309,000 saying they have experienced cybersecurity issues. Of those impacted, 33% claim they experienced financial losses as a result.

Despite an increase in cybercrime reports in last year[1], 31% of small businesses have been forced to make cuts to cybersecurity due to rising cost pressures, with 63% claiming they are actively trying to scale down business costs amidst the cost-of-living crisis.

With consumer spending declining[2], small business leaders are laser focused on revenue-driving activity such as customer acquisition (62%), client relationships (60%) and growth (54%) before cyber security (22%), with the latter being cited as their lowest priority. While over half (52%) worry about the risk of attacks, 52% also say it is too costly for them to invest in cyber security.

“There are so many priorities when it comes to running a small business. Cybersecurity is definitely a consideration, however it isn’t necessarily top of mind day-to-day, especially as the rest of our operating costs continue to increase,” said Sina Klug, owner of Sydney-based gluten free cake shop, Nutie Donuts.

According to the research, cost is the primary barrier to small businesses exploring their cybersecurity options (47%), with time (31%), and lack of knowledge on the solutions available (30%) and the threats in existence (24%) also high on the list. In fact, 66% of small business owners say they would make more of an effort to put security features in place if they were aware of all the cyber security risks, while 68% feel they would benefit from simple cyber security resources to get them started.

Enter Jackson Henry, a 17-year-old ethical hacker who rose to fame in 2021 after identifying a vulnerability in the United Nation’s systems that would have exposed over 100,000 personally identifiable records. Mastercard has teamed up with the Australian HSC student to educate small businesses on common cyber security vulnerabilities and arm them with easy to understand, actionable insights to better secure their systems.

'Cyber secure in 60 seconds'

The ten-part series is available from today on Mastercard’s YouTube and Instagram channels and aims to empower small business owners to take action when it comes to cyber security.

“I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes, all around the world, and the pitfalls are relatively similar across the board. However for small businesses, they often don’t know where to start, and lack the time, resources and budget of larger organisations, making it difficult for them to upskill in an area which is table stakes for businesses big and small,” said Henry.

The series covers ten of the most common vulnerabilities a bad actor may seek to expose, along with clear, cost-effective and achievable actions business owners can take to safeguard themselves, including:

• Educating and training your employees

• Using strong, unique passwords

• Implementing multi-factor authentication

• Updating software regularly

• Using Anti-virus software

• Limiting access rights

• Backing up data securely and regularly

• Exercising caution against phishing

• Enhancing your email filtering

• Developing a Cyber Security Policy and Incident Response Plan

“Small businesses are the backbone of communities and make economies stronger. As data breaches and cyber crime pose real financial and reputational risks, it’s more important than ever for small business owners to educate themselves on cyber security. While the research suggests the large majority (67%) are taking some kind of action to protect their businesses, tackling the issue can often feel a little like trying to boil the ocean,” said Malika Sathi, Vice President, Cyber & Intelligence Solutions and Digital Identity, Australasia at Mastercard.

“As an ethical hacker, Jackson provides a unique and incredibly impactful insight into the vulnerabilities a small business may face. In partnering with him, Mastercard hopes to arm business owners with a clear way to tackle the problem that doesn’t have to be complex or expensive,” Sathi concludes.

Ethically hacking a small business

To demonstrate the importance of good cyber hygiene, Henry worked with Sina Klug at Nutie Donuts to demonstrate how a bad actor may attempt to gain access to their systems:

“Nutie Donuts had a lot of best practice measures in place, including awareness of phishing and employee training. However, I identified three key flaws in their current security protocol: lack of two-factor authentication, using common passwords and the same WiFi network for both public and business matters, that could have been exploited by someone who knew what they were doing,” said Henry.

“As a cake shop my business is relatively low risk when it comes to cyber attacks, but it was a real eye opener to see the gaps in our defences that I would have otherwise had no idea existed,” said Klug.

Both in Australia and around the world, Mastercard is committed to protecting small businesses against payment fraud, making payments safer for merchants and their customers. For more information on how your small business can leverage the latest cyber and payment security technology, visit Mastercard’s Trust Center (www.mastercard.com/trustcenter).

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[1] ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report 2022

[2] CommBank Household Spending Insights Index