Cybercrime is on the rise worldwide and attacks occur across all industries and sectors. Unfortunately, threat actors make no differentiation between nonprofits and for-profit organizations. Nor do they limit attacks to large entities, meaning smaller nonprofits face the same risks as larger ones.

In fact, some security analysts think small organizations might be at greater risk as hackers make the assumption that cybersecurity is not prioritized. And, historically speaking, non-profits do not have the budget for cybersecurity, making them an ideal target.

The sector has seen the fallout from cybercrime. In 2017, Save the Children was attacked twice and unwittingly sent US$1 million to a fraudulent account in Japan.

Above and beyond financial matters, data breaches can mean a serious hit to an organization’s reputation, place beneficiaries’ data at risk, and result in liability if data compliance laws were not followed properly.

With these matters in mind, nonprofits need to up the cybersecurity ante, particularly in 2021’s increasingly fraught threat landscape.

Essential cybersecurity measures for nonprofits

Back in the early days of the internet, an antivirus might have been enough to protect users and computers, but nowadays, with Internet of Things (IoT) enabled devices and vast networks and systems that include cloud and physical storage, an antivirus program needs serious backup.

1. Email scanner

As the name suggests, email scanners trawl through incoming emails and hunt out any suspicious-looking links, malware, viruses, and spam. The tool is essential to any organization as frequently, attacks occur when a staff member engages with a fraudulent email, exactly what happened in one of the Save the Children breaches mentioned above.

Phishing is a form of socially engineered cyberattack in which a hacker uses an email to trick a staff member into granting them access to the company’s systems. Often, the fake email appears to come from another staff member or a senior manager. Like any organization, a nonprof