Comcast Business Research Shows Cybersecurity Remains a Persistent, Complex Problem for SMBs

Comcast Business SecurityEdge™ blocks up to 70 million instances of malicious bot activity and 30 million phishing attempts a day

Comcast Business released its first annual Comcast Business Small Business Cybersecurity Report offering a window into the cybersecurity threats small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers face daily. The report found that up to 65% of Comcast Business SecurityEdge™ customers experienced blocked attacks from July 2021 to June 2022, with up to 55% experiencing a botnet attack and nearly 50% experiencing malware and phishing attacks.

“Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to target and disrupt businesses. Unfortunately, small and mid-size organizations are especially vulnerable because they may lack the security resources and expertise to combat these threats”

The report – which analyzed anonymized threat data gathered from Comcast Business SecurityEdge as well as security insights from its partner Akamai – found that malware, botnet, and phishing attacks are among the most common internet threats SMBs have experienced over the last year. From July 2021 to June 2022, Comcast Business SecurityEdge helped protect SMBs from more than 70 million instances of malicious bot activity; 30 million phishing attempts; and 21 million attempts to access malware websites in a single day.

“Attackers don’t just target large enterprises. Recent reporting shows companies with less than 100 employees are three times more likely to be the target of a cyberattack – yet, often lack sufficient cybersecurity measures and resources to manage their risk,” said Shena Seneca Tharnish, Vice President, Cybersecurity Products, Comcast Business. “Fortunately, through education and by implementing tools like anti-virus programs, firewalls and network security solutions, SMBs can help protect their employees, and customers from the ever-changing array of cybersecurity threats.”

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The 2022 Comcast Business Small Business Cybersecurity Report also found that:

• Bots were busy: Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) botnet attacks target critical computing resources and websites to shut them down or disrupt service. Akamai researchers found and blocked large-scale botnets that use new features to hide malicious activities such as phishing, web proxying, malware delivery and selling stolen credentials and hacked credit card numbers.
• Financial and high-tech brands were the most targeted by phishing scams: Internet traffic shows that these industries were the most targeted, at 41% and 36%, respectively. A wide range of phishing campaigns enabling ransomware, offering fake prizes, demanding unnecessary payments, stealing credentials and more were identified and blocked.
• There was a myriad of malware activity: Hackers have a myriad of tricks to load malicious software from websites. Malware activity blocked by Comcast Business SecurityEdge was highly variable and diverse – including attempts to steal and secretly mine cryptocurrency, gather private information from computers, and enabling malware to continue to spread.

The cost of cyberattacks can be high for small businesses. Comcast Business SecurityEdge can help businesses stay connected and protected by working seamlessly in the background to block threats like malware, ransomware, phishing, and botnet attacks across all connected devices. It helps ensure employee and guest devices are secure when connected to the network, while automatically scanning and refreshing every 10 minutes to identify new risks.

“Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to target and disrupt businesses. Unfortunately, small and mid-size organizations are especially vulnerable because they may lack the security resources and expertise to combat these threats,” said Jonathan Morgan, Vice President of Network Security Product Management at Akamai. “Comcast has led with their innovative SecurityEdge service that makes it simple for SMBs to get foundational protections that are effortless to use. We’re proud to be their partner with our Secure Internet Access services that protect businesses of all sizes, and families, everywhere in the world.”

“My small business doesn’t have the luxury of a dedicated IT department. With Comcast Business SecurityEdge, I can rely on Comcast Business to help protect my network and connected devices, said James Rice, CEO at Fiction Tribe. “In turn, I can spend time growing my business and not worrying about online threats.”

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