Retail and tech companies are hackers’ most wanted targets – here’s what you can do about it

Hackers most often target companies in the retail and technology industries, especially small and medium-sized firms based in the United States.

These are the main findings of a new study conducted by TechRadar. best VPN supplier, NordVPN. The team at NordStellar (the provider’s risk management platform) and NordPass (its password manager service) investigated nearly 2,000 data breaches worldwide over the past two years to understand how cybercriminals target their victims.

“While small retail companies are very attractive, other profiles are just as attractive to hackers,” said Karolis Arbachauskas, the company’s head of business development. NordPass. “This analysis helped us illustrate which businesses face higher risks and explain what measures can be taken to avoid them.”

Which businesses are hackers’ favorite targets?

As mentioned earlier, Nord’s Research found that retail and technology were the most vulnerable sectors over the past two years, with a total of 95 and 56 attacks respectively.

Business services companies follow suit: 51 data leak incidents recorded during the study period – August 31, 2022 and September 1, 2024.

The top 10 most-wanted sectors for hackers also include more specific technology-related businesses, such as Internet and web services (36 attacks), IT services and consulting (35), software development (26) and computer hardware development ( 22). . Entertainment, education and finance also made the list, with 34, 28 and 27 incidents respectively.

These results were surprising, Arbachauskas explained, given that the technology and IT sector is known to be less vulnerable and better protected from online threats. However, hackers know that even if companies use high-end IT solutions, human errors can still happen.

The graph shows the 10 countries most affected by data breaches between 2022 and 2024, according to Nord Security's findings. — (Image credit: NordVPN)

In addition to specific sectors, the researchers sought to find out where the target companies were based.

Unsurprisingly, American companies attract the most attention from hackers: they account for almost a quarter of the companies included in the study (489). The top three also included India (114) and the UK (73), followed by some European countries – Spain and France.

Perhaps most notably, Nord’s findings show that cybercriminals prefer to target small and medium-sized businesses. The majority of hacked companies in the study (72%) actually had up to 200 employees.

According to Arbachauskas, this may be due to the fact that these firms underestimate their value to hackers. “Yes, there are targeted attacks, but hackers often take actions on a much broader scale, such as credential stuffing, dictionary attacks or rainbow attacks that do not target victims,” he said, adding that for smaller companies, a data breach can even mean the end of their business.

Private companies are also the largest target, accounting for 85% of affected businesses.

How to protect your business from data leakage

As these results make clear, the reality is that private businesses and small businesses are most at risk of being subject to a cyber attack. This is a stark reminder that every type of company—no matter its size—should have a robust cybersecurity strategy.

According to Arbachauskas, it is critical to use critical security tools in all areas of the business. A strong password management solution allows you to, for example, securely manage company credentials and access.

Even if companies use high-end IT solutions, human errors can still occur.

Safe business VPN The tool will be the first step towards increasing resilience to online threats. It’s because virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your employees’ Internet connections, preventing third parties from accessing data leaving their work devices.

He also suggests conducting regular cybersecurity audits to help you identify weaknesses in your company’s IT infrastructure and prepare resilience strategies. Likewise, companies should also invest in cybersecurity training to increase awareness and knowledge among employees to reduce human error, which is often the main loophole for serious data breaches.