Don’t Underestimate the Hackers

In 2011, Ponemon Research surveyed 583 U.S. businesses and found that 90% of respondents reported that their company's computers had been breached at least once by hackers within the past year; 77% of these companies felt like they were attacked multiple times within the same year. If your SMB does not have any protection from hackers, then your sensitive data is at serious risk.

Businesses that lack protection may choose to skip out on the expense because they might believe that they are too small or too nice to be at risk. You are a business owner, and you are a good person without any enemies. Hackers have no reason to target your business, right? While there are groups of hackers that do target their sworn enemies, most hackers target businesses indiscriminately and will steal your data before you even get a chance to explain how good of a person you are.

Perhaps this public misconception of hackers comes from the way they have been portrayed in movies and TV shows. In fictional arenas, hackers are often depicted as wall flowers that only need for someone to realize their misunderstood actions. In almost every occasion, the hacker is the hero and ends up using their abilities for good and not evil; like taking down a corrupt government or blowing up an attacking alien mothership. There is also a high likelihood of either an extremely attractive onlooker or fellow hacker falling hopelessly in love with the hero of the day.

Despite hackers being glorified in the media since the 1980s, hacking is a legitimate threat to companies of all shapes and sizes. The majority of computer threats are not done by lone hackers working on a laptop trying out different passwords in real-time. Most virtual threats come quietly and indiscriminately in the form of malware or phishing attacks. These subtle attacks can inflict major destruction on your system and can be just as damaging as the over-the-top hacks that occur in the movies.

Protecting your data from all security risks, including hackers, needs to be a priority for your business. At Preferred, we do more than just fix computers, we will partner with your company in order to best understand your business goals so that we can help you to achieve them. Without a strong defense from hackers, your business will be susceptible to malicious computer viruses and falling victim to one bad hack will derail your entire company.

Preferred can share with you various countermeasures that you can employ company wide as internal policies and procedures to help protect your business from hackers. Even a user with good intentions can unwittingly unleash a computer catastrophe from something as simple as an e-mail phishing scam. Though you may not be able to stave off every hacking threat, having a good backup system and enforcing your internet security policies will give your company a leg up in the battle against hackers and user prone errors.

To learn more about internet security and backup systems, contact Preferred at 708-781-7110.