Cybersecurity threats impact 86% of SMEs globally

A global survey by Kaspersky reveals that 86% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) faced at least one cybersecurity incident in the past year. The study, which included IT security specialists from 18 countries, warns that cybercriminals are increasingly targeting smaller organizations using methods previously reserved for large corporations, driven by increased digitalization and lower attack costs.

In Latin America, the most frequent incidents reported among SMEs include phishing (24%), external remote access (15%), and the exploitation of software vulnerabilities (13%).

In Colombia, ColCERT (the Cyber Emergency Response Team) issued a high-risk alert regarding a global credential theft campaign. The campaign targets firewalls and corporate VPN gateways exposed to the internet. Rather than exploiting software vulnerabilities, attackers exploit structural deficiencies in identity management and password storage. By scanning exposed administration interfaces, attackers have been able to download configuration files and extract old, weak encryption keys to gain legitimate administrator access. Colombia is ranked as the seventh most affected country globally, with 27 organizations confirmed to have had their internal networks fully exposed.