Avoid Getting Blindsided
Posted by Jake Cohen

cyberWhile hacks against the big boys like Target, Home Depot and Sony get more than their share of public attention, cyber-attacks on small and medium-sized companies often go unreported, and rarely make national headlines. Don’t let this lull you into a false sense of security. The number of crippling attacks against everyday businesses is growing. Cyber security company Symantec, reports that 52.4% of “phishing” attacks last December were against SMB’s – with a massive spike this October.

Here are just a few examples out of thousands that you’ll probably never hear about:

Green Ford Sales, a car dealership in Kansas, lost $23,000 when hackers broke into their network and swiped bank account info. They added nine fake employees to the company payroll in less than 24 hours and paid them a total of $63,000 before the company caught on. Only some transfers could be canceled in time.

Wright Hotels, a real estate development firm, had $1 million drained from their bank account after thieves gained access to a company e-mail account. Information gleaned from e-mails allowed the thieves to impersonate the owner and convince the bookkeeper to wire money to an account in China.

Maine-based PATCO Construction lost $588,000 in a Trojan horse cyber-heist. They managed to reclaim some of it, but that was offset by interest on thousands of dollars in overdraft loans from their bank.

Why You’re A Target – And How To Fight Back!

Increasingly, cyber-thieves view SMB’s like yours and mine as easy “soft targets.” That’s because all too often we have:

  1. Bank accounts with thousands of dollars.
  2. A false sense of security about not being targeted.
  3. Our customers’ credit card information, social security numbers and other vital data that hackers can easily sell on the black market.

If you don’t want your company to become yet another statistic in today’s cyber war against smaller companies, and your business doesn’t currently have a “bullet-proof” security shield.

You MUST take action without delay – or put everything you’ve worked for at risk. The choice is yours.

Here are three things you can do right away:

  1. Remove software that you don’t need from any systems linked to your bank account.
  2. Make sure everyone with a device in your network NEVER opens an attachment in an unexpected e-mail.
  3. Require two people to sign off on every transaction.

 

Not Sure If Your Safe? The First Step Would be a Network Assessment.
Fill Out The Form To The Right To Get Started.
Visit NCINDD.com for more details. 

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