Cybersecurity used to be something only giant companies needed to worry about. Every business- even the smallest business is a target. Whether they want money, data, or to stop your operations cold, hackers have clear goals. Understanding those goals is the first step toward protecting your business.
Across organizations of all sizes, we consistently see three outcomes’ attackers pursue. If a hacker gains access to your network, this is what they are ultimately trying to achieve. This post explains those outcomes, illustrated with real incidents and practical steps you can take right now.
Key Takeaways for Leaders
- Hackers are motivated by profit, not curiosity
- The most common outcomes are financial theft, data loss, and disruption to operations
- Email remains the top attack vector for cybercriminals
- Most businesses inacurrately estimate how secure they really are
- A strategic cybersecurity approach is essential to reduce risk
Outcome 1: Financial Theft
Hackers want your money. That is their goal. That sounds obvious, but the methods they use are often subtle and clever.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
One of the most common ways attackers steal money is through Business Email Compromise (BEC). This is when a threat actor gains access to or spoofs an email account to manipulate financial transactions. Often, they will:
- Impersonate a vendor and send fake invoices
- Intercept legitimate wire instructions and change account numbers
- Trick employees into authorizing transfers
These attacks have hit major corporations. For example, in 2019 Toyota’s subsidiary experienced a BEC attack that led to a $37 million fraudulent wire transfer. (e-crimebureau.com)
Another attacker, Obinwanne Okeke, was sentenced after causing more than $11 million in losses through BEC schemes. (e-crimebureau.com)
BEC attacks often start with a simple phishing lure or a typo in an email address known as doppelganger domain. 4BIS has written about how attackers register look-alike domains to trick employees into thinking messages are legitimate.
Smart Safeguards
These are simple steps that can make a big difference.
- Require phone verification for large transfers
- Use anomaly detection tools to flag unusual payment requests
- Train employees to recognize subtle email fraud
Outcome 2: Theft or Exposure of Sensitive Data
Hackers also want your data. Sometimes they don’t announce themselves, they just quietly take what they can and sell or exploit it later.
Real World Examples
In 2025 Asahi Group, a major Japanese company, experienced a breach that exposed personal data for 1.5 million customers, prompting ongoing recovery work and defense improvements. (IT Pro)
On a smaller scale, local governments in Ohio have been hit with crippling attacks. Huber Heights had to spend more than $800,000 rebuilding systems after ransomware encrypted data across multiple departments. And the City of Middletown suffered a second major cyberattack in less than a decade, underscoring that small communities are paying attention to the same threats companies face.
Once hackers have access to internal systems, they can harvest:
- Customer or employee personal information
- Financial records
- Intellectual property
- Access credentials
They may encrypt it (ransomware) or simply hold it to extort or sell later.
What Your Business Can Do
- Encrypt sensitive data at rest and in transit
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) everywhere
- Apply strict access policies so only the right people can see specific data
- Monitor for unusual downloads or access patterns
If strong authentication and access controls sound foreign, check out this post on modern secure access strategies like SASE vs VPNs.
Outcome 3: Operational Disruption
Sometimes the goal of an attack is not to steal money or data, but simply to stop your business from functioning normally. That’s where ransomware comes in.
Ransomware attacks encrypt critical systems and files, making them unusable until a ransom is paid. Even when companies have backups, recovery can be slow and painful, often dragging out for weeks or months.
When Ransomware Hits
In some manufacturing and business cases, ransomware has forced operations to a halt. Machines can’t run, systems stop, and employees are left idle. Recovery requires restoring massive amounts of data and ensuring attackers are fully removed from the environment before systems can operate.
This was true for municipalities, too. Many local governments billing, tax systems, and public services shut down after an attack, costing significant time and money.
News about Nike proves even big brands face cybercrime risks to data and operations. Reports say the company probes a suspected data breach by a ransomware gang that leaked business files.(Reuters)
The impact of downtime can be massive and longer lasting than the ransomware payment itself.
Preparation Beats Panic
- Regularly test backup and recovery systems
- Train staff on incident response roles and responsibilities
- Segment networks so critical systems aren’t all reachable from a single breach
A reality check on cybersecurity shows that many businesses overestimate how protected they are. Even organizations that think they’re “secure enough” often have outdated policies or a lack of layered defenses.
Cybersecurity Is Not One-Size-Fits-All
Understanding the three outcomes hackers want helps frame cybersecurity as a business risk management issue.
Every company’s needs are different based on:
- The type of data you hold
- Your operational reliance on technology
- Your industry and compliance obligations
- Your appetite for risk
A good starting point is to ask hard questions like “What would happen if our key systems were unavailable for two days?” or “What would be the financial impact of losing our customer data?” This kind of thinking moves cybersecurity into the realm of strategic planning and board oversight.
4BIS offers cybersecurity assessments and managed security services designed to help companies answer these questions and build a risk-based strategy.
Common Attacks Aren’t Always What You Think
Attackers don’t need sophisticated code to succeed. Often it is the simple things:
- A careless click on a phishing email
- A text message with a suspicious link (a tactic known as smishing)
- A vendor compromised elsewhere and used to pivot into your systems
This is why cybersecurity is as much about training and process as it is about technology.
Build a Resilient Defense
Here are practical steps you can start with today.
1. Train Your Team
Human error is still the #1 cause of breaches. Regular training dramatically lowers the chance that someone will fall for a social engineering trick.
2. Add Layers of Protection
Combining strong authentication, network segmentation, and modern secure access solutions improves your risk profile every day.
3. Monitor and Respond
Early detection dramatically limits how far attackers can go. Continuous monitoring and response are a foundational part of modern cybersecurity.
4. Review, Test, Repeat
Security is not “set and forget” sort of work. Run simulations, test your backups, and regularly revisit your cybersecurity strategy.
Your Next Move
Understanding the three outcomes hackers want, helps frame cybersecurity in terms everyone on your leadership team understands: money, data, and continuity.
Consider a cybersecurity assessment with 4BIS. We help companies identify gaps, refine defenses, and create plans that make sense for their business goals and risk tolerance.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help secure your business and keep you focused on growth, not recovery.
