Threats
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“Too small to be a target” isn’t true anymore — how AI changed who gets attacked.
Attackers now automate target selection, so being small no longer keeps you off the list. Here’s what changed — and the handful of controls that keep you out of the easy-win pile.
By Sheer Safe
For years, small companies assumed attackers only cared about banks and big brands. That assumption is out of date. Modern attacks are automated end to end — scanning the internet, finding exposed services, and testing stolen passwords at a scale no human could match. To that machinery, you aren’t too small to notice. You’re just another address with a login page.
What actually changed
AI lowered the cost of every step. Reconnaissance, convincing phishing emails, and even basic exploit code can now be generated in seconds. The result is more attacks, aimed more widely, at lower cost — which means the “nobody would bother with us” defence no longer holds.
What to do about it
The good news: the fundamentals still work. Phishing-resistant MFA, prompt patching, least-privilege access, and monitoring for the obvious signs of compromise take you out of the easy-win pile that automated attacks feed on. You don’t need to outrun every attacker — just the automation looking for the softest targets.