When we scanned the security horizon in our 2018 article, AI didn't rate a mention. Perhaps it was hiding on the dark side of the moon. Fast forward to the present day, and it hovers over us like a storm cloud, raining down threat or opportunity (or both), depending on your perspective.
Rather than just disappearing down the AI rabbit hole, this article reminds us that other security threats are as relevant today as ever.
In this updated article, we will:
- Send up a drone for a big-picture, 360-degree scan of the security horizon.
- List some of the AI-enhanced threats that today's SMB needs to be aware of.
- Recount some more recent "epic fails” to illustrate what can happen when security goes seriously wrong.
- Discuss how your existing business system, supported by the creative use of Orchid add-ons, can contribute to enhanced security.
Security-thinking shouldn't be considered just the responsibility of IT and operations. It must also be firmly embedded into corporate culture and employee consciousness at every level.
The Drone's Eye View
In 2018, we sent up a helicopter to scan the security horizon. These days, we can achieve the same end, and cut costs, with a state-of-the-art drone.
The detail differs from business to business, but if we fly high enough, the horizon flattens out, and some common features emerge from the security landscape. Most security considerations can be squeezed into one or more of these three broad categories:
- Physical: Let’s take this to encompass everything from the lock on the office or warehouse door, to the physical assets, documents and inventory held within.
- Technical: All that stuff we should be paying IT and network security experts to advise us on, including AI-based threats. Add to that the checks and balances in our business software that can give us early warning of threats much closer to home - more on that later!
- Cultural: This is where it gets personal. What example do our leaders set, and how lax are our internal processes? Is there a culture where theft, fraud or other security breaches are not just possible, but perhaps even implicitly tolerated? Sophisticated scams, often AI-powered, also require a company-wide culture of eternal vigilance.
5% of business revenue is lost to fraud each year. A typical scheme runs for 12 months before anyone notices, and it usually starts with someone trusted (1).
(1) ACFE, Occupational Fraud 2026: A Report to the Nations (2,402 cases, 143 countries)
AI, the Elephant in the SMB Room
Surely the biggest change since our 2018 article is AI stepping out of the dark corners and taking centre stage. On the one hand, businesses are running as fast as they can to exploit AI for increased productivity and competitive advantage. On the other hand, they need to be alert to ever-more sophisticated security threats.
While large corporations are usually the victims of high-profile AI-related breaches, small and medium businesses (SMBs) are far from immune. As this HBR article puts it:
SMBs tend to fall below the “cybersecurity poverty line,” lacking the financial, technical, or human resources required to maintain effective defences.
Here are just a few trends and threats that SMBs need to be aware of:
- AI-Accelerated Vulnerability Exploitation: Attackers use automated AI agents to scan SMB networks and software for unpatched vulnerabilities at blinding speeds. This drastically shortens the window businesses have to apply security patches before being hit by automated ransomware.
- Hyper-Personalized Phishing emails: Hackers use Generative AI to write flawless, context-aware emails in any language, easily mimicking the exact writing style of a company executive or trusted supplier.
- Deepfake Engineering & Identity Fraud: Using easily accessible audio and video cloning tools, criminals can impersonate business owners, vendors, or clients. SMBs are increasingly targeted with realistic deepfake voice calls or videos authorizing urgent wire transfers. (See our Arup "epic fail" below for one example.)
- AI Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: Most SMBs do not build their own AI; they use AI features embedded in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools. If the underlying third-party provider experiences a data breach or model poisoning, your business data can be indirectly exposed or corrupted.
Crash Landings & Epic Fails
OK, so you're cutting a few corners, but what's the worst that could happen? These recent real-life case studies illustrate the possible consequences when things go seriously wrong.
For every disaster that makes the international headlines, countless others fly beneath the media radar. Rather than laughing at their misfortune, it would serve us all well to ensure we have our own houses in order.
Epic Fail 1 (Cybersecurity): Supermarket Fridge Hack, France, 2026. Hot off the press...and hot out of the fridge. Hackers exploit a software vulnerability to remotely control fridges in hundreds of supermarkets, turning the temperatures up to as much as 50C (120F) overnight. Millions of euros worth of food needs to be destroyed.
Epic Fail 2 (Physical Security): Louvre Museum Heist, France, 2025. A newbie, and a doozy. Thieves disguised as construction workers erect a mobile furniture lift near the banks of the Seine in broad daylight, during opening hours, and gain access to the Galerie d'Apollon through a high window. They flee the same way 8 minutes later with many of the priceless French Crown Jewels...though dropping the Crown of Empress Eugénie in the street as they go.
Epic Fail 4 (Network Security): Jaguar Land Rover cyberattack, UK, 2025: A cyberattack halts car production for around five weeks. Investigators later linked it to Russian hackers, possibly directed by the Kremlin or with its tacit support. Estimated cost to the UK economy: £1.9 billion, across 5,000+ businesses.
Epic Fail 6 (AI-related Scams): Arup Deepfake Scam, Hong Kong, 2024: A finance employee joins a video call with the CFO and colleagues. Every face on the call is an AI-generated deepfake. Fifteen transfers later, US$25.6 million is gone.
Where Orchid's Sage Add-ons can help!
While an ERP system won’t lock the office door behind you, it can be used to add layers of security to your business. With the judicious use of 3rd party add-ons, you have the potential to take this much further. Here are some of the ways that Sage Add-ons from Orchid Systems can contribute.
Sage Intacct Add-Ons:
- EFT Processing for Sage Intacct
- Supports direct upload of EFT files to your bank via SFTP
- Extensive audit logs of EFT files created, plus all changes to banking details
- Reduce risk of cheque theft/fraud by no longer printing or mailing physical cheques.
- Uses Industry-leading WebAssembly technology, so mapping of your banking information takes place within your environment, not on a 3rd party site
Sage 300 Add-ons:
- EFT Processing for Sage 300
- The EFT features above, plus...
- Bank account details can be stored in an encrypted form. You control who has the authority to view or amend account details.
- If you still need to produce physical cheques, create ‘Positive Pay’ files so participating banks will only honour presented cheques that match the details provided
- Inter Entity Transactions & Trade
- Automatically generating accounting entries for complex transactions not only increases accuracy, but also removes opportunities for fraud by taking this out of the hands of individuals.
- The resulting transparency and visibility across entities increases the chances of early detection for any anomalies, which in turn creates a deterrent for anyone contemplating fraud.
- Process Scheduler
- Automated scheduling of integrity checks & backups
- Schedule of custom Extender scripts to identify and manage exceptions
- Extender
- Logging and alerting of changes to sensitive data
- Custom alerting of exception transactions, based on parameters you define. (E.g. suspicious AR or inventory write-offs, long overdue invoices.)
- Custom (field-level) validation and security, plus segregation of duties. (E.g. employees enter transactions, but only their supervisor can post.)
- Trigger external validations, e.g. check company details for new customers or vendors.
- Trigger workflows for multi-person review and approval of sensitive transactions.
- Use in conjunction with Process Scheduler to regularly check and report on exceptions.
- Return Materials Authorizations, Bin Tracking
- Improved visibility of inventory locations and movements means more transparency, fewer stock losses/leakage, reduced write-offs.
- Improved visibility of inventory locations and movements means more transparency, fewer stock losses/leakage, reduced write-offs.
- Notes, Document Management Link, Info-Explorer
- Staff have access to context-sensitive information and documents when and where it's needed.
- Greater transparency increases the chance that anomalies will be picked up early.
- Reduced reliance on physical documents removes a security risk.
You've read the book, now watch the movie!
To coincide with the 2026 updates to this article, we've produced this video that takes a deeper dive into the themes above, together with relevant demonstrations.
