Nonprofit Breaches Are Rising: And Why Most Are Sitting Ducks

Over 60% of nonprofits have reported experiencing a cyberattack in the last two years. With the nonprofit data breach costing $200,000 for nonprofits, there is a clear need for cybersecurity.

But why do nonprofits get hacked? That’s what we’ll be going over today, and explain how most nonprofits are sitting ducks, and why nonprofit cybersecurity is a necessity.

Why Are Nonprofits Being Targeted?

There are a number of factors for why nonprofits get hacked, but the main one is the sensitive donor information. This data can range from social security numbers to financial information. Cybercriminals can use the data for all kinds of attacks such as identity theft or financial fraud. Or they may just sell the data on the dark web.

Another reason is that nonprofits are often underfunded or have understaffed IT teams. This may result in the IT team not having the necessary skills to manage the threat environment. This can result in vulnerabilities that may lead to breaches.

One more reason these nonprofits are targeted is that they may think, “I’m too small to be targeted”. That’s understandable because it would make sense to go for bigger nonprofits with more data, right? But cybercriminals go after the little guys more often for the reasons we said above. They have sensitive data, and if they’re smaller, they usually have less funding for cybersecurity.

Now we understand nonprofits are targeted by criminals, but we’ll also explore some common vulnerabilities these attackers use to infiltrate these organizations.

Common Vulnerabilities

Nonprofit data breaches are steadily increasing. Here are some of the key weaknesses nonprofits share that may contribute to that sentiment:

• Outdated Systems and Software: Nonprofits often rely on outdated hardware and software. These legacy systems slow down operations and increase the risk of compatibility issues and cyberattacks.
• Poor Cyber Hygiene: Poor cyber hygiene can be using weak passwords and not implementing MFA or 2FA. A lack of cybersecurity practices like these makes organizations more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
• Limited Cybersecurity Training for Staff: Training employees to know what to look out for is one of the best ways to avoid attacks such as phishing. But reportedly, 9 out of 10 organizations do not train staff regularly on cybersecurity and 3 out of 4 don’t monitor their networks.
• No Incident Response or Backup Plan: Incident response plans and backups are like game plans for when things go wrong. Yet 69% of nonprofits do not have an incident response plan in place if a cyberattack were to occur.

So far, we’ve talked about why nonprofits are targeted and common vulnerabilities associated with them. So now we’ll go over some real-world incidents and consequences that occurred from a nonprofit data breach.

Photo by Bloomerang

Consequences of a Nonprofit Data Breach

In 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) suffered a major data breach and compromised sensitive data from around 515,000 individuals. This included donors, volunteers, staff, and even victims from the tragedies.

Not only can the financial consequences be severe, but the reputational ones as well. Just one attack is all it takes for the average nonprofit to lose everything.

The loss of trust and donors, potential legal liabilities, and operational downtime or total shutdown are all consequences that can come from nonprofit data breaches.

So, if you work for a nonprofit or are in an executive role, what can you do to protect your mission and your sensitive client data? We’ll discuss some of the things you can do right now to secure your nonprofit and protect that sensitive data.

What Nonprofits Can Do Now

Strengthening cybersecurity for nonprofits may sound like a big and expensive task. It can be, but that’s why we recommend nonprofits partner with a managed service provider (MSP). These providers can be in-person or remote and offer a wide variety of services.

That’s why we at Kirkham IronTech work with many different nonprofits to protect their sensitive client data. We use our expert IT infrastructure support, 24/7 monitoring, and top-tier cybersecurity measures to ensure your organization stays resilient, secure, and ready to fulfill its mission.

Your Mission Deserves Protection. Let Us Help You Secure It.

Try Our Free Cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure Assessment – To help fix your security gaps.

Call Us: (479) 434-1400 – Get in touch with our team.

Visit Our Website: www.kirkhamirontech.com – Learn more about our services.

Email Us: info@kirkhamirontech.com – Let us know how we can protect you and your business.