Small and medium-sized businesses remain an attractive target for cybercriminals. According to a Kaspersky Lab study, 86% of companies in this segment worldwide and 82% in Russia faced cyber incidents over the past year.
Globally, phishing became the most common threat, encountered by 20% of respondents. In Russia, mass malware attacks led, accounting for 23%. Other frequent threats included exploiting software vulnerabilities and attempts to gain remote access to corporate systems – 18% of cases in Russia each.
Among additional risks, Russian companies noted attacks through AI tool vulnerabilities and the use of lost or stolen IT assets – 15% each.
Respondents identified a lack of employee knowledge as one of the main risk factors. In Russia, 23% of participants pointed to a lack of experience among information security specialists, and 20% to low awareness among ordinary employees. Another 25% noted shortcomings in internal protection policies.
More than half of Russian companies increased their cybersecurity spending over the year. 41% expanded their IT or IS teams, 32% engaged external specialists, and 27% increased the number of protective solutions or began implementing SIEM class systems.