How to Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Attacks

Posted by Ah Poh, 19-01-2017

Small business owners might assume that their small size makes them immune to cyber threats. Cyber criminals, in other words, only go after the big, flashy opportunities, like the major cyber attack on Target in 2013, which compromised roughly 40 million credit and debit card accounts.

 

Unfortunately, that’s not entirely true, as cybercriminals are beginning to unleash cyber attacks on small businesses in increasing numbers. For example, Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report highlighted that phishing campaigns launched by cyber criminals this year specifically targeted small businesses with less than 250 workers 43 percent of the time — in comparison, in 2011, only 18 percent of attacks targeted small businesses.

 

Small business owners might assume that their small size makes them immune to cyber threats. Cyber criminals, in other words, only go after the big, flashy opportunities, like the major cyber attack on Target in 2013, which compromised roughly 40 million credit and debit card accounts.

 

Unfortunately, that’s not entirely true, as cybercriminals are beginning to unleash cyber attacks on small businesses in increasing numbers. For example, Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report highlighted that phishing campaigns launched by cyber criminals this year specifically targeted small businesses with less than 250 workers 43 percent of the time — in comparison, in 2011, only 18 percent of attacks targeted small businesses.

 

Small business owners might assume that their small size makes them immune to cyber threats. Cyber criminals, in other words, only go after the big, flashy opportunities, like the major cyber attack on Target in 2013, which compromised roughly 40 million credit and debit card accounts.

 

Unfortunately, that’s not entirely true, as cybercriminals are beginning to unleash cyber attacks on small businesses in increasing numbers. For example, Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report highlighted that phishing campaigns launched by cyber criminals this year specifically targeted small businesses with less than 250 workers 43 percent of the time — in comparison, in 2011, only 18 percent of attacks targeted small businesses.

 

Small business owners might assume that their small size makes them immune to cyber threats. Cyber criminals, in other words, only go after the big, flashy opportunities, like the major cyber attack on Target in 2013, which compromised roughly 40 million credit and debit card accounts.

 

Unfortunately, that’s not entirely true, as cybercriminals are beginning to unleash cyber attacks on small businesses in increasing numbers. For example, Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report highlighted that phishing campaigns launched by cyber criminals this year specifically targeted small businesses with less than 250 workers 43 percent of the time — in comparison, in 2011, only 18 percent of attacks targeted small businesses.