It’s easy for smaller businesses to shrug off concerns of cyber-attacks, assuming that they’re only something big corporate companies need to worry about. However, for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the reality is very different.
Research found that an employee of a small business with less than 100 employees will experience 350% more social engineering attacks than an employee of a larger enterprise. Attackers often prefer targeting smaller organisations because they’re seen as easier to breach, which is backed up by research from BT that revealed 51% of the UK’s micro business sector doesn’t have the right level of cyber protection in place.
So, what does a cyber-attack actually look like for a business like yours? In this blog, we’ll walk you through a hypothetical scenario where a small Galway-based business falls victim to a cyber threat. From the first click to the final fallout, we’ll show how quickly things can spiral and, more importantly, how each stage could have been prevented with the right cyber security measures in place.
The Email That Opened the Door
It’s just after 9am on a Tuesday. The office manager at a small Galway-based business is working through her inbox when one message catches her eye. It looks like it’s from a regular supplier; same branding, same tone, even the same contact name. The subject line reads: “Overdue Invoice – Action Required.”
Without thinking, she clicks the link.
Nothing happens, or so it seems.
Behind the scenes, that single click triggers the silent installation of malware. A cyber-attack is now in motion.
This is a classic phishing scam, and it’s frighteningly effective. A report from IBM identified phishing attacks as the second most common initial attack vector, with it only taking one distracted moment or a well-crafted email to give an attacker the access they need.
Tip: With regular cyber security awareness training, SMEs in Galway can drastically reduce the chances of these mistakes happening. If your staff know what to look out for, they’re far more likely to pause before they click.
Escalation: Malware Takes Hold
By 11am, things start to get strange.
A couple hours on from that fateful click, and files that were accessible just moments ago now show error messages. A few team members report that shared folders are empty, while others can’t open certain documents at all. The office manager restarts her machine, thinking it’s just a glitch.
It’s not.
In the background, ransomware has already begun encrypting files across the network – spreading quietly from one device to the next. The attackers now have control, and they’re locking the business out of its own data.
By lunchtime, the screens go black. Then comes the message:
“Your files have been encrypted. Pay €10,000 in Bitcoin within 72 hours, or they will be lost forever.”
The team is stunned. Panic sets in. Client files, financial records, work-in-progress – all gone in an instant.
Tip: This stage of a cyber-attack can often be prevented with layered cyber security tools like advanced antivirus, real-time monitoring, and firewalls. For SMBs in Galway, there needs to be at least a basic level of critical protection.
Chaos Unleashed: Business Disruption
It’s now 1:30pm. The phones are ringing, emails are bouncing, and no one can access the CRM. The entire business has ground to a halt, with delivery deadlines being missed, client calls cancelled, and staff standing around wondering what to do.
Worse still, when the team turns to their backups for recovery, they don’t work. The last successful backup was over six months ago, and it’s incomplete. Important data is missing, and restoring even that would take days.
The business owner scrambles to figure out next steps, only to realise another issue: customer information may have been compromised. That means they could be in breach of GDPR and subsequently face the burden of reporting the incident to the Data Protection Commission.
What started with a single click has now snowballed into financial loss, reputational damage, and potential legal consequences.
Tip: For SMBs in Galway, compliance and recovery go hand in hand. Regularly tested backups and up-to-date cyber security policies are essential, not just for business continuity but for staying on the right side of the law.
Aftermath: Cost, Reputation, and Recovery
Fast forward to the end of the week, and the business is still struggling to get back on its feet. The ransom wasn’t paid, but that doesn’t mean the damage is over.
The IT team has spent days trying to rebuild systems from whatever data they could salvage. Some clients have already taken their business elsewhere, frustrated by delays or concerned about their data. This loss of trust is an enormous concern for businesses that fall victim to cyber-attacks, with a 2024 report finding that 66% of consumers wouldn’t trust a company that suffers a data breach. Some of their other clients are asking tough questions the company can’t yet answer.
Word travels fast in a place like Galway. And in small business communities, reputation is everything.
There’s also the financial cost: emergency IT support, lost revenue, staff downtime, and legal advice. Not to mention the looming potential for fines if the incident is found to be a compliance failure. All told, the price of this cyber-attack could easily run into five figures – and that’s without factoring in the long-term hit to trust and credibility.
Tip: For SMEs, layered cyber security is essential protection. A strong mix of endpoint protection, patch management, MFA, and firewall monitoring could’ve blocked the threat before it ever reached staff inboxes.
How to Avoid Becoming the Next Victim
It’s easy to look back with hindsight, but in truth, everything that happened in this scenario could have been avoided.
Here’s what would have made the difference:
- Cyber security awareness training to help staff spot phishing emails before clicking.
- Modern antivirus and threat detection to flag and block malicious downloads.
- Regular patching and system updates to close off vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.
- Reliable, tested backups to recover quickly without paying a ransom.
- Compliance-focused policies and monitoring to stay in line with GDPR and other data protection rules.
For SMBs in Galway, the lesson is clear: prevention is far cheaper (and far less stressful) than recovery.
Tip: Cyber-attacks aren’t just an IT problem. They’re a business risk. By taking small, manageable steps to improve your defences, you can reduce that risk significantly and stay compliant at the same time.
Put Protections in Place
Cyber-attacks aren’t hypothetical – they’re happening every day to small businesses just like yours. At Galway IT, we help SMEs across Ireland protect their systems, data, and reputation with practical, affordable cyber security solutions. Our free cyber security audit will assess your current setup, identify potential gaps, and give you clear, jargon-free recommendations to strengthen your defences.
Don’t wait for a crisis to realise where you’re vulnerable. Book your free cyber security audit today and take the first step towards a safer, more resilient business.
