More now than ever before, it is imperative for small businesses to project themselves from cyber-thieves, even if they have limited budgets.
“Small businesses feel like they’re immune from cybercrime, and they’re wrong,” says Larry Ponemon, chairman of the privacy think tank Ponemon Institute. “They are absolutely on the list of potential targets of cybercriminals.”
Research by Verizon’s forensic analysis unit reveals that of the 855 data breaches worldwide in 2011, 72 percent of those were done to companies with 100 or fewer employees (up from 63 percent in 2010). The small business is a very real target.
“A survey last year of executives at 500 U.S. companies of varying sizes found that 76 percent had had a cybersecurity incident within the past 12 months resulting in the loss of money, data, intellectual property or the ability to conduct day-to-day business, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association, an information-technology industry trade group,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
In many such cases, courts find that banks aren’t responsible for the money lost in cybercrime cases, “which a business client’s computer systems were breached,” notes the article.
“Cybersecurity experts say small-business owners need to do more to protect their firms from high-tech thieves than rely on standard security products,” adds WSJ.
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