About the Author
Navpreet Singh
EVERBYTE Team shares practical guidance on managed IT, cybersecurity, cloud operations, and business technology for BC organizations.
There’s a persistent myth in the small business community that cybercriminals only go after large corporations. The thinking goes: why would hackers bother with a 15-person logistics company in Langley when there are banks and hospitals to attack?
The answer is that hackers do target banks and hospitals — but the people running those attacks are automated. They scan the entire internet looking for unpatched software, weak passwords, and misconfigured systems. Company size is irrelevant. Preparedness is everything.
The Numbers?
Short answer: According to the 2024 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 46% of all cyber breaches involved businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has reported that ransomware incidents against Canadian SMBs increased significantly year-over-year.
According to the 2024 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 46% of all cyber breaches involved businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has reported that ransomware incidents against Canadian SMBs increased significantly year-over-year.
The reason is economic. Large enterprises have security operations centres, dedicated IT staff, and mature incident response plans. Attacking them is expensive and risky. SMBs — especially those without managed IT or a security stack — are faster to compromise, faster to pay, and less likely to pursue legal action.
How Ransomware Gets In?
Short answer: Most ransomware attacks follow the same basic playbook: Use clear ownership, one measurable KPI, and a monthly review so the change stays effective after rollout.
Most ransomware attacks follow the same basic playbook:
1. Phishing email. An employee receives an email that looks like it’s from Canada Post, Microsoft, or even their own IT department. They click a link or open an attachment. A dropper installs silently in the background.
2. Credential theft. The malware harvests saved passwords from the browser or email client. The attacker now has login credentials for your systems.
3. Lateral movement. The attacker moves quietly through your network — sometimes for weeks — mapping your systems, identifying your backups, and escalating their access privileges.
4. Detonation. When they’re ready, they encrypt everything simultaneously. Servers, workstations, file shares, and — critically — the backups they identified during reconnaissance.
5. The demand. You get a message. Pay in cryptocurrency or lose everything. The average demand for a Canadian SMB is $150,000–$500,000 CAD.
What Doesn’t Stop It?
Short answer: Traditional antivirus. Signature-based antivirus compares files against a list of known threats. Modern ransomware is polymorphic — it changes its signature on every deployment. Antivirus misses it. Make the improvement operational by assigning one owner, tracking one key metric, and reviewing progress every month.
Traditional antivirus. Signature-based antivirus compares files against a list of known threats. Modern ransomware is polymorphic — it changes its signature on every deployment. Antivirus misses it.
Cloud backups alone. If your backup solution is mapped as a network drive, it gets encrypted too. We’ve seen businesses lose Office 365 backups this way.
Employee training alone. Training reduces risk but doesn’t eliminate it. Phishing campaigns have become sophisticated enough to fool security professionals. You cannot rely on human vigilance as your only defence.
What Actually Works?
Short answer: Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). Unlike antivirus, EDR monitors behaviour rather than signatures. When a process starts encrypting files at scale, EDR doesn’t wait for a known signature — it detects the behaviour, isolates the endpoint, and stops the spread. Automatically. Within seconds.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). Unlike antivirus, EDR monitors behaviour rather than signatures. When a process starts encrypting files at scale, EDR doesn’t wait for a known signature — it detects the behaviour, isolates the endpoint, and stops the spread. Automatically. Within seconds.
Immutable offsite backups. Backups stored in a separate environment that cannot be accessed from your network — what we call ransomware-proof backups. Even if attackers encrypt your entire infrastructure, your backups are untouched and restoration is fast.
Privileged access management. Limiting which accounts can install software and access sensitive systems means a compromised standard user account can’t detonate ransomware across your whole network.
Incident response planning. Knowing exactly what to do in the first 30 minutes of an attack significantly reduces total damage. Most businesses that pay ransoms do so because they don’t have a recovery plan.
The Real Cost of an Attack?
Short answer: The ransom is the smallest part. Consider: Turn this into a repeatable process with explicit ownership, measurable outcomes, and a fixed review cadence.
The ransom is the smallest part. Consider:
- Business interruption (average 22 days of downtime post-attack)
- Emergency IT forensics and recovery costs
- Legal and regulatory notification obligations
- Reputational damage with clients
- Cyber insurance premium increases
For most Fraser Valley SMBs, a single successful ransomware attack costs more than 3–5 years of a comprehensive managed security stack.
If your business doesn’t currently have EDR, immutable backups, and a documented incident response plan, those are the three gaps to close first. We can assess your current exposure in a single session — no commitment required.
Look into our Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) and Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR) services — the two most important defences against ransomware for BC businesses.