Proton report: Small businesses targeted in 794 major data breaches in 2025

Small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly becoming targets for cybercriminals, a trend highlighted by a new report from Proton. The report indicates that 71% of major breaches in 2025 affected these smaller entities, according to Tech Radar.

Proton's Data Breach Observatory recorded 794 significant breaches in 2025, resulting in the exposure of over 306 million records. The report emphasizes that cybercriminals are exploiting the perceived lack of robust security in smaller organizations, which often prioritize speed over comprehensive security measures. Compromised passwords were a primary attack vector, accounting for 49% of breaches. Examples like PhoneMondo and Tracelo illustrate how even small teams can suffer massive data leaks, exposing millions of customer records.

The findings underscore a critical need for startups and SMBs to embed security and privacy into their foundational operations, a concept Proton terms "build in private." Failure to do so can lead to severe consequences, including significant financial penalties under regulations like GDPR and damage to consumer trust. Proton recommends implementing strong credential management with multi-factor authentication, gating access to sensitive data, and utilizing end-to-end encryption for all communications and storage.

Source: Tech Radar