Cyber Attacks on Small Businesses Increase

March 24, 2015—Cyber attacks directed at small businesses are increasing, according to new data from Symantec’s 2014 Internet Security Threat Report.

According to the report, one in five small-to-medium-sized companies were the victims of cyber breaches in 2013. The most common cause of a hack was due to a lost or stolen device.

According to Ponemon Institute’s 2014 Cost of Data Breach Study, as reported by Fox Business, hack attacks in the U.S. cost on average $200 per record compromised.

Tim Francis, enterprise and cyber lead at Travelers, told Fox Business that, “there’s an under-appreciation of how vulnerable a small-to-medium-sized business might be to a cyber-event,” and advised being vigilant in safeguarding against hackers.

“For a small business, they may not spend billions dealing with a breach, but there’s a higher risk they’ll be crippled so severely they’ll have to close their doors [after a breach],” Francis said, according to Fox Business.