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Small businesses should treat AI as a tool that can make impersonation more convincing—not as a wholly new kind of attack. The practical response is to make suspicious requests easier to report, verify payment instructions through a separate trusted channel, protect accounts with multifactor authentication, and prepare to restore data if ransomware strikes.
The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center report recorded 22,364 complaints that included AI-related information, with adjusted losses exceeding $893 million. Those are complaints from the public, not a small-business victimization rate. They show why verification matters, but they do not establish how often AI is used in attacks on small businesses or how much any one defense reduces risk. FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report
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1. Train staff to spot and report suspicious messages
Phishing can arrive by email, text, or another channel. A message may impersonate a colleague, executive, or vendor and try to rush someone into clicking a link, opening an attachment, sharing credentials, or sending money. Generative AI can help produce polished, official-sounding messages, but not every phishing attempt is AI-generated.
Set a clear, low-friction way for staff to report suspicious messages—such as a designated IT contact or internal reporting process—and make sure employees know what to do if they clicked or replied. Practice recognition and reporting with training and simulations. The FTC’s small-business guidance recommends employee training and a way to report suspected phishing. FTC: Cybersecurity for Small Business
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2. Verify payment and sensitive requests independently
The FBI warns that chat generators can create business messages that sound like they came from an executive, and that voice cloning can be used to request wire payments. A familiar voice, correct writing style, or urgent email is not sufficient authorization for an unusual transfer or account change. FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report
Confirm high-impact requests using a separately established channel: call a number already on file, use an existing approval workflow, or speak to the requester in person. Do not rely on contact details supplied in the suspicious message. Apply the same rule to changes in vendor bank details, requests for credentials, and unexpected changes to payment instructions. This is a practical verification control; the FBI source describes the threat but does not quantify how effective a particular workflow is.
3. Use strong, unique passwords
Never reuse a password across business services. Reuse lets a password exposed in one breach become a way into other accounts. A password manager can help staff use unique credentials without having to memorize each one. CISA lists passwords among its core cybersecurity essentials and offers guidance on password managers. CISA: Small and Medium-Sized Business Resources
If you choose a business password manager, evaluate its administrative controls, secure sharing, account recovery, MFA support, and compatibility with employees’ devices. Establish who can add or remove users and how access is recovered if an administrator leaves.
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4. Require MFA, starting with high-impact accounts
Multifactor authentication (MFA) adds a second proof of identity beyond a password. Enable it for email, file storage, remote access, and privileged accounts; begin with administrators and accounts that hold sensitive information. CISA says businesses should aim to use a phishing-resistant MFA method. CISA: Require Multifactor Authentication
CISA’s guidance ranks common options from stronger to weaker as follows:
- Physical security key: A phishing-resistant option, when supported by the service and device.
- Authenticator-app number matching: A stronger app-based option than a basic one-time code.
- Authenticator-app one-time codes: Better than relying on text or email codes, but not phishing-resistant.
- Biometrics used with another method: An additional factor, not a standalone substitute for the other method.
- Text or email codes: Use when stronger choices are unavailable; CISA lists these as the weakest option in its guidance.
Before rollout, check which methods each business service supports and define a recovery process for lost or replaced devices. A security key is a product category, not a guarantee of universal compatibility: confirm that it works with the accounts and devices your business uses.
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Keep operating systems, applications, firmware, and internet-facing systems updated. Turn on automatic updates where appropriate, and assign someone to track updates that require manual work. Prioritize vulnerabilities that authorities identify as known exploited, alongside the risk and exposure of the affected system. Joint CISA, FBI, and Australian Cyber Security Centre guidance calls for regular patching and prioritizing known exploited vulnerabilities. CISA, FBI, and ASD’s ACSC: #StopRansomware: Play Ransomware
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6. Back up important data offline and test recovery
Keep encrypted backups that are offline or otherwise isolated from the systems used every day. Ransomware can search for backups it can reach and delete or encrypt them too. CISA recommends offline, encrypted backups and regular restoration tests. CISA: #StopRansomware Guide
Decide which files and systems must be restored first, how often they need to be backed up, who can access backup copies, and how long recovery is expected to take. Then test restoring real files and systems. A backup schedule alone does not show that data can be recovered. An external drive can hold an offline copy, but it must be disconnected when not in use, encrypted, stored securely, and included in restore testing.
7. Encrypt sensitive business data
Identify information that would cause harm if exposed, such as customer records, financial data, or confidential business files. Use encryption features available in the devices and services where that data is stored. CISA includes encryption among its recommended next-level defenses for small and medium-sized businesses. CISA: Small and Medium-Sized Business Resources
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Protect recovery keys separately and limit who can access them. Encryption helps protect data from unauthorized access, but it does not replace access controls, backups, or secure account practices.
8. Keep logs someone can review
Logs can help reveal suspicious activity and support an investigation, but collecting them is useful only if someone can retain, review, and act on relevant alerts. Decide whether your staff or IT provider owns that work, what events matter—such as administrator sign-ins or changes to account permissions—and how alerts will be escalated.
CISA’s small-business resources point to logging and threat-detection guidance, including no-cost Logging Made Easy resources for IT teams. CISA: Small and Medium-Sized Business Resources
9. Make an incident-response plan before an incident
Write down who will make decisions and who will carry out the first actions if an account, device, or business system is compromised. Include how to contact your IT provider, who can isolate an affected device, how to preserve relevant information, who handles customer communications, and where to report the incident. FTC guidance covers reporting options and considerations for notifying customers. FTC: Cybersecurity for Small Business
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Keep the plan accessible when your usual systems are unavailable, and make sure staff know how to reach the people named in it. CISA’s small-business resources also point to guidance on cybersecurity roles, incident response, and ransomware. CISA: Small and Medium-Sized Business Resources
If ransomware hits
- Follow your response plan and contact your designated IT provider or incident-response support.
- Isolate affected devices from the network when your plan or technical support directs you to do so; avoid actions that could destroy useful evidence.
- Preserve relevant information, including ransom notes and incident details, and report the incident through appropriate official channels.
- Use clean, tested backups and a recovery plan to restore systems; do not assume connected backups are safe.
- Assess whether customer or other sensitive data may have been exposed, and follow applicable notification obligations with appropriate advice.
The Play ransomware advisory reported that authorities were aware of approximately 900 affected entities as of May 2025. That is a dated figure in an advisory updated June 4, 2025, not a current cumulative count or a small-business-specific estimate. CISA, FBI, and ASD’s ACSC: #StopRansomware: Play Ransomware
Put the defenses into an operating routine
These measures work as a process, not as a single product purchase: assign owners for account security, updates, backup testing, alert review, and incident response. The FTC and CISA guidance links training, protection, detection, response, and recovery as parts of small-business cybersecurity. FTC: Cybersecurity for Small Business CISA: Small and Medium-Sized Business Resources
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