Just two weeks ago, Anthem joined Target, Home Depot, and JP Morgan in the ranks of major companies who have messed up in a big way. About 80 million Anthem employees and customers were affected by a massive data breach, making it one of the largest online security disasters in history.
It’s no coincidence that Anthem, the second largest health insurance company in the United States, was targeted by cyber attackers. The Identity Theft Resource Center reports that attacks on health and medical companies are increasing. Why? Identity thieves can find everything they need to know from medical records: names, birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, email addresses, employment information, and more. Health and medical companies accounted for 42.5 percent of all data theft targets last year.
But other types of companies are just as vulnerable to cyber attacks. In fact, about half of all US companies experienced a security breach last year. We hear more about the large companies, because millions of Americans are affected. But if you’re a small or medium-sized business, the results of a data security breach are no less devastating for your organization. In fact, the impact can hit you even harder, because smaller companies usually don’t have the IT, legal, and public relations departments necessary to effectively neutralize such a threat.
Any company of any size can be vulnerable to a cyber attack. The problem for smaller companies is that their budgets often don’t accommodate an integrated IT department. Even those who can afford to hire these professionals often run into a shortage of available, talented tech workers.
In these cases, the solution is often to outsource the company’s data security work. Small and mid-sized companies are finding success by hiring outside consultants such as Davik, Inc to set up firewalls, educate employees, and monitor data storage. This way, the cost of hiring top IT talent is reduced, and company needs are addressed on a case-by-case basis.
If you need assistance in determining if your business network is secure, give us a call. We’ll get you protected!
