Protecting small businesses from cyberattacks requires an all-hands-on-deck approach

Cybersecurity Month presents an important opportunity to remind Americans of this general rule of thumb: If you have an online presence, you are a target for a cyberattack. Each minute of every day, malign actors are employing increasingly sophisticated tactics to attack our critical infrastructure, interfere in our elections, access our personal data and more than ever, exploit small businesses across America. Cyberattacks on small businesses may not receive the same level of media attention as attacks on large corporations, but small businesses are a prime target for hackers around the globe. In fact, it’s estimated that 43 percent of all cyberattacks involve small business victims. Malign actors have figured out that many small firms often do not have cybersecurity infrastructure in place to prevent or recover from breaches, making it a fairly straightforward exercise for attackers to infiltrate small businesses’ private data systems and access everything from customer records, to credit card information and intellectual property.