50% of small businesses have been the target of a cyber attack

If you’re a business, there’s a target on your back, or your data to be more precise. Cyber criminals have developed a lucrative, black market enterprise that will rival some major companies when it comes to valuing information that’s been hacked from legitimate sources.

Hardly a week goes by without a release about a high-profile cyber attack against a company. At a presentation entitled, “Hacked: The Realities of a Cyber Event” hosted by Travelers in Washington, D.C., recently, a panel of experts discussed the impact of cyber crime on small to medium-sized businesses. “One in two companies report being the target of a cyber attack,” stated Tim Francis, enterprise leader for cyber insurance for Travelers. “Sixty percent of attacks last year struck small to medium-sized businesses.” He said there are 34,529 known computer incidents each day and the goal for the bad guys is to “make money as easily as possible.”