The headlines never seem to change: Cyber crime is on the rise globally. At a seminar held at the University of Washington's Law School in early October, FBI and Secret Service agents reported that cyber crime is becoming more professional and in many ways, easier to commit. Among the reasons is that cyber criminals have become more effective at using the Internet to organize and form cyber "gangs" that include individuals with different areas of expertise. Operating as a skilled underground team, criminals are more effective and are capable of launching sophisticated attacks, silently spreading their malware to thousands of websites to run scams and infiltrate computer networks to access personal information of thousands of people.

These cyber criminals are now focusing on small and mid-sized businesses that do not have the same protections in place for network security as large corporations. Restaurants are among those businesses under attack. CNBC reported last April that 40 percent of breaches in 2010 occurred in the hospitality industry. Point-of-sale terminals have been a primary target for cyber criminals engaging in credit card fraud and resulted in the compromise of millions of credit and debit cards. With more restaurants embracing social media and mobile devices as part of their business plan, the exposure to potential cyber crime only increases.

Related: Read the article "Runaway Restaurant" by Susan Massmann.