Small Businesses Falling Prey to Hackers at Record Rates
Any small business owner who isn’t following the news on cyber-attacks should really begin doing so immediately, if not sooner! The news isn’t good and for those who have been following trends in cyber-attacks, it is becoming increasingly obvious that small businesses are being targeted and almost always for one reason alone. That would be, lack of security.
photo/ Pete Linforth via pixabay
While it is reported that most small businesses simply don’t have the resources to afford top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art security for their office computers, it pays to at least look into the possibility of discounts and promotional codes at sites like PromoCodeWatch that actually have an area for business promo codes. Just looking at recent statistics should be enough to warrant putting aside a budget for cyber security.
A Look at the Past Two Calendar Years
As recently as late April of 2016, it was reported that small businesses are, by far, the biggest target for cyber-attacks. According to data released by Small Business Trends, last year 43% of all hacks were aimed at small businesses in the United States. And to make matters even worse, the Denver Post reports that at least 60% of all businesses that have been the victim of cyber-attacks are put out of business within a the first six months! So many business advisors and industry analysts are asking, “Can you afford not to get a decent security platform for your office computer system?”
Security Alone May Not Be Enough
Getting back to the cost of security and how decent monitoring may not be affordable for the small mom-and-pop business, there are things which can be added to just a basic security platform. While part of the problem is hacking to access customer/client private information, most hacks are simply malicious in nature. They only intend to wipe the hard drive clean, thus paralyzing a small business in the process.
A site like the above mentioned PromoCodeWatch also has promotional codes for such things as online backups that would go a very long way in enabling small businesses to keep their doors open in the event of a malicious attack. All that info would be stored somewhere safe in the Cloud and with a clean system, they’d be back in business within a matter of days, if not hours.
Guarding Intellectual Property a Must
One company that is in business to help companies of all sizes protect their intellectual property says that small businesses simply don’t think they will be significant enough to be victimized by hackers. Actually, this Internet law firm says that small businesses are the most vulnerable. They further report that, as mentioned above, it is more than just a lack of understanding how vulnerable they are but many simply don’t have the resources to institute a sound enough security platform.
With almost half of cyber-attacks being aimed at small businesses, and of those almost 60% being shut down with half a year as a result, it would seem logical to at least look into minimal security and some basic firewalls which can be updated regularly. Also, it is advisable to back up data daily to the Cloud so that your database can be recreated if hacked. Small businesses can’t afford NOT to get security based on what is known about cyber-hack patterns.
Author: Lolita Di
Cyber attack is really a problem nowadays. And those businesses that have low security is the most prone to this. Other than backing up the data daily, they should also try using VPN providers that offer great security features at a low prices.
[…] point to consider is that smaller, personally run businesses are much more likely to be attacked by hackers. Becoming a victim to a hacker means that your financial privacy, and potentially the privacy of […]