The Votes Are In!
2023 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → 
Tech Tip: If You Think Your Business is Too Small to Be Hacked, Then You’re Probably a Cybercriminal’s No. 1 Target
Arcadia Weekly Mar 06, 2020
by
share with
In a world of rampantcybercrime, hackers thrive on the blind faith of their targets. Despitehigh-profile digital security breaches showing up in the news nearly everyweek, most people assume they’re safe from attack.
The thinking goes thatwhile Fortune 500 corporations like J.P. Morgan, Sony, Tesco Bank, and Targethave lost millions of dollars to data breaches in recent years, my business isfar too small to justify a hacker’s attention…right?
Wrong. It’s quite theopposite. According to StaySafeOnline.org, attacks on small businesses nowaccount for over 70% of data breaches, a number that appears to be on the rise.Close to half of small businesses get compromised, ransomware attacks alonehave skyrocketed a whopping 250% since 2016, and incidents of phishing havefollowed suit, as reported by Media Planet.
Owners of smallbusinesses might be excused for erroneously believing themselves safe. Afterall, the hundreds of little guys paying out thousands of dollars in digitalransoms every day are a lot less newsworthy than, say, the CIA’s recent hackingby the mysterious Shadow Brokers, or the 143 million sensitive customer recordsstolen in the recent Equifax fiasco. The lack of visibility of the morefrequent, smaller-profile incidents plaguing the country can easily lull usinto a dangerously false sense of security.
But why would a team ofhackers zero in on a small-town operation when they could be targeting a giantlike Google? Well, which building is a petty thief more likely to target — thebank in the center of a busy downtown, packed with security guards andhigh-tech theft prevention equipment, or the house in an affluent part of thecity, which the owners always keep unlocked while they’re on vacation? Thesehacker gangs aren’t boosting a couple of flat screens and a box of jewelry.They’re gutting small businesses with ransoms that stretch to the very edge oftheir means, as much as $256,000 for a single attack, according to one TechRepublicanalysis.
Of course, any smallbusiness owner will struggle to afford the security measures implemented bygiant corporations. However, there is a balance to be struck betweenaffordability and vulnerability. With just a little research, it’s quite easyto find an array of robust and comprehensive digital security solutions toprotect your company. Such programs can turn your business from low-hangingfruit into an impenetrable fortress.
Even if you’ve somehowmanaged to make it through the past few years without a data breach,statistically, you can be confident that hackers will come for your businessone day. With that in mind, it’s essential to prepare. Just because you haven’thad a life-threatening illness in the past two years doesn’t mean you shouldn’thave a wide-reaching health insurance policy. Just because your car hasn’tbroken down since you bought it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t regularly change theoil and invest in car insurance. And just like your car, your network securityrequires regular maintenance and upkeep to stay effective. If you grab yoursecurity software from the bargain bin, install it and forget it, you’re onlymarginally safer than you were before installing the barrier in the first place.Cybersecurity isn’t something you purchase to check off a box and give yourselfan imaginary peace of mind. Instead, it’s an investment in your company’sfuture, the safety of your customers, and the longevity of your livelihood.
If your business isn’ttoo small to attract the attacks of hackers — and we guarantee it isn’t — thenit’s certainly precious enough to protect. Cybercriminals will come for yourbusiness one day but equipped with a set of up-to-date, powerful securityprotocols, you can rest easy knowing they’ll go away empty-handed.
Tech Rockstars can be contacted at 850 S. Myrtle, Monrovia, CA 91016 | info@techrockstars.com | (626) 533-1436.
