In 2024 and early 2025, several high-profile cybersecurity incidents rocked organizations across Canada and the United States. These breaches did not just affect large corporations. They had a ripple effect across supply chains, customers, and industries where small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) play a critical role.
If there is one message to take from these events, it is that the size of your company does not protect you. Hackers go after vulnerabilities; unfortunately, SMBs are often the most exposed. With limited IT staff and outdated tools, many smaller businesses are left to hope for the best. But hope is not a cyber defense strategy.
Let’s examine five recent cybersecurity breaches, highlighting what went wrong and how a partner like SKADI Cyber Defense could have changed the outcome using tools like the AI-powered SKADI Frostbow platform.
1. The Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack (February 2024)
One of the most disruptive cyberattacks in recent memory hit Change Healthcare, a critical player in the U.S. healthcare system. The attack halted prescription processing and payment systems nationwide. Hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies were forced to delay care; some even turned away patients. The financial damage ran into hundreds of millions of dollars.¹
How SKADI Could Have Helped
Ransomware thrives when threat detection is slow and response plans are incomplete. Frostbow’s real-time threat detection and automated incident response capabilities are designed to stop ransomware before it spreads. For healthcare SMBs, SKADI delivers 24/7 monitoring without requiring an internal team, closing the gap that often leads to devastating downtime.
2. Snowflake Customer Data Breach (2024)
Cloud data warehouse provider Snowflake suffered a breach that compromised data from over 100 companies. While Snowflake was not directly breached, attackers exploited stolen credentials to access customer environments. The stolen data included everything from personal details to financial records.²
How SKADI Could Have Helped
This is a textbook case of unauthorized access that behavioral analytics would have flagged. Frostbow learns the typical patterns of user behavior and recognizes when something seems off, such as a user accessing a platform from an unusual location or attempting to export data. Combined with strict access control policies, this kind of AI cybersecurity could have identified and stopped the attack before customer data was exposed.
3. National Public Data Breach (2024)
In a less-publicized but deeply alarming breach, a U.S.-based data broker inadvertently exposed 2.9 billion records, including Social Security numbers, home addresses, and employment histories. The root cause? Misconfigured infrastructure and inadequate endpoint protection.³
How SKADI Could Have Helped
Misconfigurations are a quiet but deadly threat. SKADI’s endpoint protection continuously scans for vulnerabilities—not just viruses or malware but gaps in software, open ports, and misconfigured settings that leave systems wide open. For SMBs that store client information, this layer of defense can mean the difference between normal operations and regulatory nightmares.
4. PowerSchool Cyberattack (December 2024)
PowerSchool, an education technology provider, fell victim to a cyberattack that impacted school districts across the U.S. In this case, hackers leveraged phishing tactics and later threatened to publish student data unless a ransom was paid. This extortion campaign led to major concerns about student privacy and district liability.⁴
How SKADI Could Have Helped
Phishing protection and employee training are core parts of SKADI’s SMB offering. Many attacks begin with a single click on a malicious link. Frostbow’s email analysis tools and real-time flagging of suspicious behavior, combined with regular user education, help prevent these human-triggered incidents before they escalate.
5. Park’N Fly Data Breach (July 2024)
In Canada, Park’N Fly disclosed a data breach affecting one million customers. The company said attackers accessed names, email addresses, and partial payment information. Investigators later found that monitoring tools had failed to detect the intrusion in time.⁵
How SKADI Could Have Helped
This breach could have been mitigated through continuous threat monitoring, which many SMBs assume is out of their reach. SKADI’s Frostbow platform delivers enterprise-level visibility into activity across devices and users, alerting them to real-time unusual access patterns or policy violations. For companies with customer-facing systems, this can stop damage before it hits public news.
A Pattern of Missed Opportunities
What ties these incidents together is not just the severity of the breaches but the presence of common, avoidable weaknesses:
- Weak endpoint protection
- Lack of real-time monitoring
- Inadequate phishing defense
- Human error and lack of training
- Delayed response or no incident response at all
This is precisely the territory where SKADI operates. We offer cybersecurity services with a proactive approach that can prevent these common weaknesses from being exploited.
How SKADI Protects SMBs Differently
SKADI Cyber Defense was created to make enterprise-grade security accessible to small and medium-sized businesses. We understand that most of our clients do not have dedicated security staff, which is why our solutions are designed to be simple, automated, and always on. This ensures that even SMBs can have the same level of protection as larger enterprises.
With our proprietary AI platform, Frostbow, we offer:
- Real-time threat detection using machine learning
- 24/7 Security Operations Centre with live support
- Endpoint protection for all connected devices
- Phishing simulations and employee training
- Compliance tools for healthcare, finance, and other regulated industries
Our mission is not just to catch threats but to empower businesses to operate confidently, knowing they are protected against the threats they cannot see coming.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
The examples above resulted in millions of dollars in losses, lawsuits, or long-term reputation damage. While the headlines focus on large names, the reality is that many of these breaches affected vendors, contractors, and service providers: companies that look a lot more like your own.
For small and medium businesses, a breach’s financial and operational fallout can be existential. The time to act is before something happens. The consequences of not taking action could be severe, potentially leading to financial losses, operational disruptions, and long-term damage to your business’s reputation.
Protect your business from becoming tomorrow’s headline.
Contact SKADI today to learn how our AI-powered solutions can safeguard your operations.
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References
- UnitedHealth Group. “Change Healthcare Responding to Cyberattack.” HIPAA Journal, April 2024. https://www.hipaajournal.com/change-healthcare-responding-to-cyberattack/
- Proven Data. “Snowflake Breach: Everything We Know So Far.” Proven Data, July 2024. https://www.provendata.com/blog/snowflake-data-breach/
- Microsoft Support. “National Public Data Breach: What You Need to Know.” Microsoft, 2024. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/national-public-data-breach-what-you-need-to-know-843686f7-06e2-4e91-8a3f-ae30b7213535
- Reuters. “US School Districts Facing Extortion Attempt After Hack, Software Provider Says.” Reuters, May 7, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-school-districts-facing-extortion-attempt-after-hack-software-provider-says-2025-05-07/
- BleepingComputer. “Park’N Fly Notifies 1 Million Customers of Data Breach.” BleepingComputer, August 27, 2024. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/parkn-fly-notifies-1-million-customers-of-data-breach/