Retail and tech firms are the most wanted targets for hackers – here’s what you can do about it

Hackers mostly target companies in the retail and technology sectors, especially small or medium-sized firms based in the US.

These are the main findings from new research by the company behind TechRadar the best VPN supplier, NordVPN. The team at NordStellar (the vendor’s threat exposure management platform) and NordPass (its password manager service) investigated nearly 2,000 data breach incidents worldwide over the past two years to understand how cybercriminals choose their victims.

“While small retail companies are very attractive, other profiles are no less attractive to hackers,” said Karolis Arbaciauskas, Head of Business Development at NordPass. “This analysis has helped us illustrate which companies face greater risks and explain what steps can be taken to avoid them.”

What businesses are hackers’ favorite targets?

As mentioned earlier, Nord’s research found that retail and technology were the most targeted sectors over the past two years, suffering a total of 95 and 56 attacks respectively.

Business services companies follow suit, with 51 data breach incidents counted during the research period – 31 August 2022 and 1 September 2024.

The top 10 most sought-after sectors by hackers also include more specific technology-related businesses such as internet and web services (36 attacks), IT services and consulting (35), software development (26) and hardware development of computer (22). . Entertainment, education and finance were also on the list with 34, 28 and 27 incidents respectively.

These results were surprising, Arbaciauskas explained, given that the technology and IT sectors are notoriously less vulnerable and better equipped against online threats. However, hackers know that even if companies use state-of-the-art IT solutions, human error can still occur.

Chart showing the top 10 countries that suffered the biggest data breach between 2022 and 2024, from Nord Security's findings. — (Image credit: NordVPN)

In addition to specific sectors, the researchers were keen to find out where the highly targeted companies were located.

Not surprisingly, US companies receive the most attention from hackers, accounting for nearly a quarter of the businesses that appear in the research (489). India (114) and the United Kingdom (73) also made the top three, followed by some European countries – Spain and France.

Most notably, perhaps, Nord’s findings show how cybercriminals prefer to attack small and medium-sized businesses. Most of the breached companies featured in the research (72%), in fact, had up to 200 employees.

According to Arbaciauskas, this may be because these firms underestimate their value to hackers. “There are targeted attacks, yes, but hackers often turn to activities with a much broader scope, such as credential stuffing, dictionary or rainbow attacks, which don’t choose their victims,” he said, adding that for for smaller companies a data breach could even mean the end of their businesses.

Private companies are also the biggest target, accounting for 85% of affected businesses.

How to protect your business from data breaches

As these findings clearly highlight, private and smaller business realities are most at risk of suffering a cyber attack. This is a stark reminder that every type of business – regardless of its size – should have a strong cybersecurity strategy.

According to Arbaciauskas, it is vital to use critical security tools in all areas of the business. A reliable password management solution enables secure management of company credentials and access, for example.

Even if companies use state-of-the-art IT solutions, human errors can still occur

A safe one VPN for business the tool is then the first step towards better resistance against online threats. That’s because a virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your employees’ internet connections, preventing third parties from accessing data that leaves their work devices.

He also suggests conducting regular cybersecurity audits to help identify weaknesses in your company’s IT infrastructure and prepare resilience strategies. Similarly, companies should also invest in cybersecurity training to increase awareness and knowledge among employees to reduce human error—often the main backdoor in serious data breaches.