Hackers Targeting Small Businesses

Like many victims of crime, you may see yourself as too small to be targeted by criminals. In the case of data and digital crimes, you may not have made a strong investment in protecting yourself because you only have a dozen computers and don’t see how your data could benefit a criminal or be worth their time. Think again.

BusinessWeek reports on the latest trend in cybercrime: “Instead of going after large companies, hackers are now targeting small businesses, whose systems are often more vulnerable than those of the big guys.”

How is this for a fun fact:

“56% of small businesses experienced one or more security incidents in the past 12 months.”

Criminals and hackers understand that you may “have less time, resources, and experience to devote to the issue.” That is why you are now their target.

Here is what is at risk when dealing withhackers and online criminals:

• ID Theft: having your names and financial information used by criminals.
• Viruses & worms: using your computers for large scale attacks on others.
• Exposure of confidential information, including proprietary information, intellectual property, and customer account information.

How to protect yourself? Install the following on all of your computer systems:

• Anti-virus software
• A firewall
• Anti-spyware software
• Anti-phishing software
• Ensure software is up-to-date
• If you have an e-commerce system, partner with companies to protect customer data

But don’t forget the human element: educate employees on the risks, including email usage and tips to keep their passwords safe

Howard Schmidt, president and CEO of R&H Security Consulting and former White House cybersecurity adviser says “companies should be willing to spend about $200 per year per employee for a solid level of protection.”

Here is a list of free resources for anit-virus, email scanning, and firewall software.