While cyber security might seem like a ‘big city’ problem that regional businesses can ignore, that’s far from the truth. In fact, this commonly held belief has left many businesses in regional areas without appropriate online security defences, and as a result they’re considered easy pickings by cyber criminals. The most vulnerable? Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs), who are already working with less resources.
Today, we’re unpacking why cyber security is critical for SMBs in Ballarat and regional Victoria, including Security Awareness Training for your team. If you’re an SMB, this is essential reading so let’s get started.
5 Common Cyber Threats Affecting SMBs
Firstly, let’s look at the common threats we see affecting local SMBs today. Hint: keep an eye out for the role human error plays in eachof these attacks.
· PhishingEmails
Cyber criminals send emails impersonating trusted organisations or people, aiming to trick you into providing personal or financial information, or login credentials. Phishing scams use a sense of urgency to encourage action, include malicious links or attachments, and can be used to launch further attacks when successful. While these can be generic, they can also take the form of a spear phishing attack, which is highly targeted.
Today scammers are also leveraging AI tools to rapidly create more convincing attacks – from sophisticated written content through to the correct branding. As this technology continues to advance, phishing emails will become harder to spot.
In 2025 alone, 30,149 phishing scams have been reported to ScamWatch with losses totalling over$14 million. So, what do they look like? It could be as inconspicuous as an email from the bank asking you to review updated terms and conditions. If you aren’t paying attention, you might click on the URL and provide details or click on an attachment and unknowingly install malicious software (known as malware).
· Ransomware
This is a form of malware, and the attack often starts with a phishing email that includes a malicious link or attachment. When this is clicked, the ransomware begins to download. From here, hackers encrypt your system or files so you can’t access them, then demand that a ransom is paid to regain access. They may also threaten to leak sensitive data, putting more pressure on victims to pay up.
This attack halts your day-to-day operations and can result in serious downtime, reputational damage, and lost revenue – as well as the cost of recovery and potential fines. While there’s a lot of pressure to pay the ransom, it’s recommended you don’t. After all, there’s no reason to trust a cyber criminal will follow through on their promises, and it could even put a target on your back.
So, what does this look like in real life? The University ofNotre Dame, which has campuses in Perth, Broome, and Sydney, was hit by a ransomware attack this year that also involved the theft of 60GB of sensitive student data. This spanned medical information, tax file numbers, NDAs, and contact details. The attack impacted IT systems leaving the university unable to use them, and as a result critical services continue to be affected six months on.
· Invoice Fraud
Hackers send fraudulent invoices posing as a vendor you know and trust. This can occur as Business Email Compromise, where cyber criminals compromise a vendor’s actual email account to send an invoice with altered bank details or use a very similar email address (known as domain spoofing) to send a fake invoice. These documents can also be created to copy the layout and branding of a typical invoice, so it can be difficult to spot something’s off. In 2024, payment redirection scams cost Australians $152.6 million.
· Weak Passwords
Creating simple passwords and using them across multiple accounts is common practice, but did you know doing this can play a huge part in enabling cyber attacks? In fact, around 80% of data breaches occur because of weak passwords, password reuse, or credential theft (via cyberattacks like phishing). Password reuse is also a major concern because it’s basically handing hackers the keys to multiple accounts if your login credentials are stolen.
· Accidental Data Leaks
Accidental data leaks might occur when your team sends sensitive information to the wrong person, fails to properly remove data from a storage device before they get rid of it, or loses a device (either by accident or if it’s stolen) where data isn’t protected by robust security measures. While data leaks aren’t malicious, they are mainly caused by human error and can still result in the same consequences as a data breach – like reputational damage, financial loss, and downtime.
The Human Factor
As you might have noticed, human error is a major factor inmost cyber attacks. In fact, it plays a part in 90% of them. You might think your business is safe because you’ve got great antivirus protection, but this doesn’t stop your team from making mistakes –like someone clicking on a phishing email link or sharing sensitive data by accident.
How Security Awareness Training Helps
Security Awareness Training educates your team around cyberthreats and best practices. It ensures they’ve got the skills to spot risks and make the right choices when they encounter a threat. As a result, you can reduce the risk of human error by up to 70%.
Getting Started: Practical Tips
1. Train your team to spot risks. SecurityAwareness Training delivers regular video lessons for your team, quizzes to test their knowledge, and phishing simulations so you can spot who needs some extra help.
2. Encourage a cyber aware culture. Part of this should be creating an environment where your team feels comfortable to report mistakes that could lead to vulnerabilities.
3. Partner with an IT provider. This ensures you’re on the right track, supported with in-depth expertise and tools.
Want to Get Started?
If you’re ready to build your cyber resilience and empower your team with Security Awareness Training, our local nerd herd is ready to make it happen. We put cyber security first and understand the needs of regional SMBs, so get in touch to get the ball rolling.