As we grow evermore reliant on the internet, the dangers of cyber attacks grow exponentially as well.

Read on to learn about the threat cyber attacks pose to small businesses and what can be done to stop them.

In today’s day and age, everything is connected through the internet in some capacity. As the internet of things continues to grow and the world’s reliance on computers and the internet increases, the threat that cyberattacks pose looms larger and larger. While there are billions of people who use the internet every day, only a small percent of internet users have any information technology or computer proficiency, making cyber attacks very lucrative and appealing to criminals of all backgrounds.

It is very difficult to catch the few, yet very successful criminals for two reasons. First, cyber crime is a somewhat recent development, and there are few experts trained in cyber defense and security. Second, cyber crimes are perpetuated by a highly skilled, well connected, group of criminals who are located all over the globe. This makes it very difficult and sometimes impossible to bring to justice many cyber criminals. These cyber criminals work thoroughly, quickly and cover their tracks painfully well. Many people are defrauded out of their money every day, and there simply isn’t enough man power and resources to solve all the cyber crimes being committed daily.

Cyber criminals don’t just target large corporations or the prominently rich, they target small businesses and everyday citizens as well. For example, the St. Louis library was hacked and had all their computers and servers held ransom for a very large sum of money. To get around such ransomware is not easy, and once a business has become the victim of a cyber attack, specifically ransomware, the only two options are often to pay the criminals, or cut their losses and start over. Even local police departments have fallen victim to ransomware, some more than once. According to IBM, there are over 1 million cyber attacks annually.

Small businesses should especially be aware and concerned about criminal cyber activity. Many small businesses and organizations don’t give ransomware a second thought because they mistakenly think they are not big enough or lucrative enough to be a target. Cyber criminals do not discriminate; they will and have defrauded money from anyone that is vulnerable. Many cyber crimes go unreported, either because they go undetected or because people do not know how or who to report them to, meaning the statistics on cybercrime are likely much higher than reported.

Every person, business, and organization, should arm themselves with knowledge, and protect themselves in any way possible from cyber criminals. Although the chances of becoming a victim of a cyber crime are too high for comfort, businesses and people alike can decrease the likelihood of it happening to them by taking preventive action. Defend yourself and your assets today by calling {company}, located in {city}, at {phone} or emailing us at{email}.