The Impact of Ignoring Malware Prevention

Many business owners hear of malware in the news–such as breaches that hit Facebook and Target–but assume that hackers wouldn’t bother with a small business when they could go after a big enterprise. Unfortunately, hackers see a small company with less-robust security policies as an ideal target, so failure to implement malware prevention can be a costly mistake.

Cyber criminals employ sophisticated means to infiltrate businesses, and, from small companies to big government agencies, there’s a threat to data assets, money and reputation. Small-business owners need to heed the warning to develop effective malware prevention plans and be ready when, not if, they are attacked.

Few small businesses have the resources to survive a malware attack. According to a study by Ponemon Institute, 61% of small-business owners indicated they had experienced a cyber attack in 2017, compared with 55% in 2016. Experts say this trend will continue.

The cost of a cyber attack has also gone up, with the average small-business owner reporting costs of $955,429 in 2016 and $1,207,965 in 2017. The typical business owner doesn’t have this type of cash reserve ready to handle a malware attack.

There are certain industries that are more often targeted by cyber criminals:

Implementing a Malware Prevention Plan

There are steps you can take to create some protection around your small business:

To minimize the cost of a malware attack, it’s a good idea to invest in malware prevention, no matter the size of your business. To get started, contact us today.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.