Welcome to CybersecureGuard Newsletter and 1 of the 4 Articel series. This newsletter is for people who want to understand cybersecurity beyond headlines, fear-driven messaging, and tool recommendations — and who prefer clarity over hype.
This is the first issue of a new article and newsletter series focused on one central question:
Why are so many cyberattacks successful — even in well-organized businesses?
Not because companies do nothing.
Not because technology is missing.
But because risk is often misunderstood.
Introduction
Small and medium-sized enterprises often say, “We are too small to be attacked.” It is rarely said with confidence, but more often with a sense of relief — as if company size alone were a form of protection.
This belief is usually neither ignorant nor reckless. It reflects a common mental model of cyber risk: the assumption that attacks are targeted, intentional, and primarily aimed at organizations that appear “important enough” to justify the effort.
For a long time, this assumption felt reasonable. Cyber incidents were mostly associated with large corporations, critical infrastructure, or headline-grabbing data breaches. Smaller businesses often saw themselves as too ordinary to matter.
But this way of thinking no longer matches reality.
Modern cyberattacks do not work like targeted break-ins. They work like automated opportunity searches. Most attacks today are not successful because companies lack technology, but because risk is misunderstood — and therefore underestimated. This misunderstanding creates a deceptive sense of security that shapes decisions and everyday behavior long before any technical vulnerability is exploited.
How everyday business reality creates opportunity for attackers
Attackers do not look for companies with big names. They look for companies with easy entry points. This distinction is critical and still widely misunderstood. In modern cybercrime, attacks are rarely handcrafted for a single, specific target. Instead, they are designed as scalable processes. Automated systems continuously scan large numbers of companies at once, searching for weaknesses that can be exploited with minimal effort and minimal risk for the attacker.
These weaknesses are usually not dramatic or obvious. They are familiar, unspectacular, and deeply embedded in everyday operations. A password that has been reused for years because it is practical. A browser update postponed because everything still works. An email account without additional verification because it has never caused problems before. A system that was configured once and then left untouched. None of these issues feel critical on their own, yet together they create exactly what attackers are looking for: opportunity.
From an attacker’s perspective, the central question is not who the company is or how well-known it might be. The question is how easily access can be gained — quietly, reliably, and without triggering attention. This is why company size offers no real protection and why obscurity is not security. Automated attacks do not distinguish between small and large organizations; they simply move on until they find the least resistance.
The misunderstanding deepens when cybersecurity is primarily treated as a technical challenge. Firewalls are installed, antivirus software is running, spam filters block obvious threats. On paper, everything appears to be covered. Yet real-world incidents show a different pattern. Breaches rarely happen because no tools exist. They happen because security measures operate in isolation, without a shared understanding of realistic attack paths and without alignment to how people actually work.
Often there is no clear picture of how an attacker would move through an organization after initial access is gained. Responsibilities for security decisions are unclear, and technical controls are not integrated into everyday workflows. This gap between tools, processes, and reality is where attacks succeed.
Human behavior plays a central role in this dynamic — not because people are careless, but because they are human. Emails are opened because they look routine and familiar. Attachments are trusted because they fit into normal business communication. Updates are delayed because productivity and availability take priority. Passwords are reused because they reduce friction in daily work. These behaviors are not exceptions; they are normal business reality.
Cyberattacks succeed when security strategies fail to account for this reality. As long as cybersecurity is reduced to a checklist of tools rather than a realistic understanding of how organizations operate, attackers will continue to exploit the space between technology, processes, and human behavior.
Conclusion – Why Cyberattacks are successful
Cybersecurity is often reduced to tools: which software is installed, which systems are protected, which solutions are in place. Real-world incidents show, however, that this perspective is incomplete — and this is a key reason why cyberattacks are successful.
Successful attacks rarely exploit a single missing product. They exploit gaps in understanding. Assumptions that once felt reasonable — that size equals safety, that tools automatically provide protection, or that attacks only target “important” organizations — create blind spots long before any technical vulnerability is involved.
This does not mean that technology is unimportant. It means that technology alone is not enough. Without a realistic view of how cyberattacks actually begin and how closely they are tied to everyday workflows, even well-equipped organizations remain vulnerable.
Cybersecurity is therefore not about paranoia. It is about visibility, realistic assumptions, and understanding how attackers think. Effective protection starts long before an alert is triggered. It starts with insight.
This article marks Part 1 of a four-part series. In the next part, we will look at how modern cyberattacks really begin — step by step — and why the earliest phase often remains invisible until damage has already occurred.
Cybersecurity News – Why this matters
Over the past few days, several headlines have dominated cybersecurity news across Europe. At first glance, they appear unrelated: an international manhunt for the leader of the ransomware group Black Basta, data theft affecting Interrail customers, security gaps in AI-powered workplace tools, and a steady rise in attacks on public institutions and businesses. Taken together, however, these stories illustrate a clear pattern.
International investigators are currently searching for the suspected head of the ransomware group Black Basta, one of the most active and professional ransomware operations in recent years. While law enforcement efforts are important, the existence of such groups is not the core problem. Ransomware operations succeed because access is gained long before encryption or extortion begins — often through everyday weaknesses that remain unnoticed.
At the same time, reports emerged about stolen customer data from Interrail users, affecting travelers across multiple countries. The breach highlights a recurring issue: large amounts of personal and operational data are stored, processed, and shared across systems that were never designed with modern threat models in mind. The attack itself is rarely spectacular; the exposure builds up quietly over time.
Another recent example comes from the AI space. Security researchers reported serious vulnerabilities in early versions of Claude Cowork, an AI-powered productivity tool. The issue was not malicious intent, but speed: new technologies are adopted faster than security models can adapt. This creates opportunities for attackers who specialize in exploiting immature systems rather than breaking hardened ones.
Finally, regional and national reports show a continued rise in cyberattacks against cities, public services, hotels, and small businesses. These incidents often go unnoticed by the public because services continue to function — until they don’t. The damage is usually detected late, even though the initial access happened much earlier.
What all these cases have in common is not missing technology or lack of awareness. It is the gap between how organizations believe attacks happen and how they actually unfold in practice. Cyberattacks succeed not because defenses are absent, but because they are built on outdated assumptions.
Why this fits the bigger picture
These news stories are not exceptions. They are examples of the same underlying dynamic discussed in this issue: automated attacks, underestimated entry points, and security decisions that do not fully reflect real-world workflows. Understanding this connection is far more valuable than reacting to individual headlines.
Security misconception of the week
“We are too small to be attacked.”
This belief creates a false sense of safety.
Not because it is naive — but because it is outdated.
Modern cybercrime is not selective. It is efficient. Small and medium-sized businesses are often affected precisely because their security measures are designed around the wrong assumptions.
Insight: Why tools are not enough
Firewalls, antivirus software, and spam filters are important. But without understanding how attacks actually begin and how closely they are tied to normal workflows, even well-equipped organizations remain vulnerable.
Cybersecurity is not a product decision. It is a continuous process shaped by people, routines, and structure.
Insight January – Why cyberattacks are successful
The most important realization this month is a simple one — and at the same time one of the most underestimated: Most cyberattacks are successful long before any malware is executed or data is encrypted.
The decisive phase is not the attack itself, but the period in which assumptions quietly shape security decisions. When organizations believe that existing tools are enough, that their size makes them unattractive, or that threats will be visible and obvious, they unintentionally create the conditions attackers rely on.
Security gaps rarely appear overnight. They emerge gradually, as systems evolve, workflows change, and responsibilities blur. Over time, protection becomes fragmented — not because people ignore security, but because no one regularly questions whether existing measures still reflect how the organization actually operates.
The key insight is this:
Cybersecurity does not fail due to missing effort. It fails when understanding does not keep pace with reality.
Free Security Tools for Your Business
Effective cybersecurity does not always require expensive software. There are solid, free tools that can significantly improve visibility and reduce everyday risk — especially when used consciously and consistently.
Here are a few examples that many organizations underestimate:
- Have I Been Pwned
A simple way to check whether company email addresses or passwords have appeared in known data breaches. Useful for awareness and early action. - VirusTotal
Allows files, URLs, and domains to be scanned across multiple security engines. Helpful for quickly assessing suspicious attachments or links. - Mozilla Observatory
Provides an overview of how well your website follows modern security best practices, including headers, TLS, and configuration basics. - OWASP ZAP
A free, open-source tool for identifying common web application vulnerabilities. Particularly useful for development and testing environments.
These tools do not replace a security strategy. But they help close visibility gaps — and visibility is often what makes the difference between early detection and late realization.
What’s next
This article marks Part 1 of a four-part series focused on understanding why cyberattacks succeed in real business environments.
In the next issue, we will explore how modern cyberattacks actually begin — step by step — and why the earliest phase often goes unnoticed until the consequences become unavoidable.
Because security does not start with software. It starts with understanding.
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Also interesting to read up on
https://www.scworld.com/brief/record-ransomware-hits-uk-firms-causes-billions-in-damage
https://www.emsisoft.com/en/blog/47215/the-state-of-ransomware-in-the-u-s-report-and-statistics-2025
