THIS week on the Lock and Code podcast, Malwarebytes discusses what it calls the “cyber tax” as a consequence of a rising wave of attacks on small businesses. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, 81% of small- and medium-sized businesses suffered a data breach or security breach in the past year, and more than half of those businesses lost over $250,000.
The discussion notes that, based on data from the US Federal Reserve, the median American family has just $8,000 in savings, meaning a $250,000 hit could bankrupt a family and disrupt a business. The report adds that 38% of affected small businesses decided to raise their prices to stay afloat, a trend described as the long‑term downstream effect of cyberattacks.
Velasquez, CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, is cited as saying the current environment is driving these price increases, and the episode explores threats including AI‑powered phishing, deepfake calls, and supply‑chain attacks targeting small firms. According to the podcast, the goal is to understand how protections can help business owners and their customers.