Cyber Attacks and Threats only happen to the big guys, right? Banks, .COM Retailers, big corporations, right?
Not so fast…. You’re at risk more than ever and it’s only going to get worse…
The reality is that as the big companies spend millions on cyber security, the bad guys are now setting their sights on easier targets… YOU! The Small Business guy!
According to companies like Verizon and UPS Capital:
- Almost two-thirds of all cyber attacks are now directed at small business & Individuals.
- 61% of breaches hit small businesses last year, up from the previous year’s 53%.
- Cyber attacks cost small businesses an average of between $84K – $148K per incident.
- 60% of small businesses go out of business within six months of an attack.
- 90% of small business don’t use data protection for company & customer information.
So what can you do to protect yourself? I’m not going to get technical here but I CAN break it down to two things to start off with.
- Protect your Data – that means working with your “computer guy” – whether it’s someone on staff or a vendor – and get security software installed on ALL of your computers, phones, tablets.. yep those too! Anything that connects to the internet in the office or in the field.
- Back-up your Data – Whether it’s a portable drive that you take with you off-site every night, or perhaps an online service like Carbonite, Crashplan or even DropBox… that backs up your data so it can’t be attacked or held hostage.
There’s so much more to this but hopefully this has you paying attention to it… Talk with your IT person or vendor to make sure you are protected and work with your team to:
- Be aware and informed
- Know the policies and procedures that your team will be following
- Know the warning signs to look for if hacked and the steps that need to be taken if it does happen to your business.
Anyone out there experience a hack or have you taken some additional precautions you want to share? Please share your experience in the comments below.
Thanks, and I’ll see you next Thursday.