Learn How Cyber Criminals Are Attacking Businesses in 2026
As a small business owner, you must familiarize yourself with the methods cyber criminals use to attack firms, including AI-powered deepfakes and hyper-personalized phishing. They also use artificial intelligence to create automated malware and target the weakest link in the supply chain.
By understanding malicious actors and how they pose cybersecurity threats, you can reduce your small business’s risk of falling victim to these criminals. It’s even more crucial nowadays, given that small firms are increasingly becoming easy targets.
As Inc. Magazine reports, a survey revealed that nearly three in four (72%) small business owners admitted to getting hit by fraud, ransomware, or scams last year. You don’t want to be one of these firms, which is why you need cyber threat intelligence so you can better recognize, prevent, and respond to attack methods.
What Is a Cyber Criminal?
Cyber criminals are individuals or organized groups that use information technology (including computers, the internet, and networks) to commit illegal acts. Their reasons vary, but they’re usually:
- For personal financial gain
- To cause business disruption or destruction
- To perpetrate espionage (e.g., corporate or government espionage)
Cyber criminals are digital experts who exploit human error and technical vulnerabilities. They perform forced, unauthorized access to data, steal information, deploy malware, and even demand ransom.
According to a press release published by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in April 2025, there were 859,532 complaints of suspected internet crime in 2024, of which reported losses exceeded $16 billion. The losses reflect a 33% increase from 2023.
What Are the Three Types of Cyber Criminals?
There are several specific types of cyber criminals, typically classed into three categories based on their motives and the methods they use to perpetrate their crimes. They include:
- Career cyber criminals: The most common type of threat actors, whose motivation is personal financial gain
- State-sponsored actors: Entities backed by governments to conduct sabotage or commit espionage
- Hacktivists: Cyber criminals driven by ideological, political, or social causes
How Are Cyber Criminals Attacking Businesses in 2026?
According to statistics cited by the National University, 77% of companies either use or are exploring the use of AI in their organizations. Over eight in ten (83%) also say it’s a top business plan priority.
All those figures show that AI is quickly becoming so integrated into modern business operations. Unfortunately, it’s also paved the way for cyber criminals to make their illicit activities more sophisticated.
AI-Powered Deepfakes
A deepfake is a type of synthetic media, such as audio, video, or image, created to make someone appear to have done or said something they never did.
AI-powered deepfakes are a version of these fraudulent media made with artificial intelligence tools. They can be so convincing that you may not notice they’re fake unless you know what to look for to spot their illegitimacy.
Cyber criminals use AI-powered deepfakes to deceive, impersonate, and commit fraud. They may, for instance, use altered videos or audio files to impersonate a high-level executive and trick employees into making unauthorized financial transactions with wire transfers or divulge sensitive corporate data.
Hyper-Personalized Phishing
Also often referred to as “AI-powered phishing,” hyper-personalized phishing is a highly sophisticated AI-driven cybercrime in which the perpetrator uses specific, even intimate details about a victim.
Using such details, criminals create very convincing and personalized yet fraudulent messages. They’re much more effective than traditional “spray-and-pray” mass-distributed phishing emails, as these scams take advantage of AI to dig public data and create messages that look legitimate.
AI-Driven Automated Malware and Ransomware
By leveraging AI, modern cyber criminals are able to attack businesses with more effectiveness and efficiency using highly sophisticated and automated malware and ransomware. AI and machine learning (ML) allow these malicious actors to augment all stages of a cyber attack, from initial reconnaissance to data encryption and ransom negotiation.
Some of the most advanced malware and ransomware programs are even autonomous, meaning they operate with little to no human intervention. Because of this, they can adapt to and evade security defenses in real time.
Businesses hit by these high-tech malware may find themselves forced to pay thousands and thousands of dollars, a problem they can avoid or reduce the risk of by having a robust ransomware response strategy in place.
Targeting the Weakest Link
One of the most crucial digital security tips and insights to remember is that cyber criminals don’t discriminate against a business’s size. They target firms of all sizes, from small to medium and monolithic corporations. They do, however, like to exploit the weakest link: small businesses with few to no online safety measures designed to prevent hacking attacks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Cyber Criminals Go to Jail?
Yes, they can, particularly if what they committed constitutes a federal crime, and if they get caught. Unfortunately, few of them do, which is likely due to low reporting rates for cybercrimes.
According to Security.org, the FBI estimates that only about 15% of cybercrime gets reported.
Cyber criminals who get caught can face severe sentences that involve lengthy jail times. People found guilty of computer-based fraud and related activity, for instance, may get an imprisonment term ranging from one to 20 years (18 U.S. Code § 1030).
How Can Businesses Protect Themselves Against Cyber Criminals?
Protecting your business against cyber criminals and their illegal activities involves a multi-step approach that begins with risk identification. In this case, cybersecurity experts will analyze your company’s security infrastructure using methods like penetration testing (pen test) and vulnerability assessment.
Such assessments enable cybersecurity professionals to determine security gaps and weaknesses, allowing them to create a risk prevention, mitigation, and response strategy tailored to your business’s specific needs.
Depending on what the initial tests reveal, your business may benefit from 24/7 monitoring, employee training, or comprehensive managed IT services.
Keep Cyber Criminals Away From Your Business
Cyber criminals have their crosshairs aimed at businesses of all sizes, perpetrating their crimes using AI-powered deepfakes, hyper-personalized phishing, and sophisticated malware.
Don’t forget these malicious actors are targeting the weakest link. You should, therefore, consider partnering with cybersecurity experts ASAP, as they can help fortify your business’s IT and network infrastructure.
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