Research from the National Cyber Security Alliance shows that 60 percent of small businesses are unable to withstand the six months following a cyber-attack due to the massive price they must pay to recuperate in the aftermath. According to the Ponemon Institute, it costs the average small business $690,000 to recover from a cyber-attack. For middle market companies, the cost is more than $1 million.
Recent events make it evident that anyone can be affected by cybercrime – small and large businesses, startups, government agencies and even presidential candidates. Sixty-two (62) percent of all cyber-attacks hit small and mid-sized businesses, about 4,000 per day, according to IBM. These small businesses are the more frequently hit because they are much easier targets. Leaving bank accounts, customers’ personal information, tax refunds and health insurance easily penetrated.
A few tips to keep your business from being next include: basic training for employees to recognize the signs, create an incident response plan, updating your software, encrypting your sensitive files and more that can be found here.