How to Protect Your Small Business Against a Cyber Attack
Follow these steps to boost your company's security measures and thwart hackers -- keeping yourself, your employees and your customers safe.

By John Patrick Pullen •

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The Seattle hacker drove a black Mercedes. He owned a Rolex. He liked to frequent a downtown wine bar. While it's easy to think of cyber criminals as faceless, digital pickpockets in far-flung countries, the reality is that they are among us. In one notorious case, a bandit and his gang of cyber crooks compromised at least 53 Seattle-area small and medium-size businesses between 2008 and 2010, stealing enough data to cause $3 million in damages to the companies, their employees and their customers.
"This wasn't the type of crime that we anticipated," tech-company employee Alec Fishburne said at a news conference (where the Seattle victims agreed to be identified but asked that their businesses remain anonymous). The gang hacked Fishburne's firm from another office within the high-rise building. He became aware of the breach after noticing some unusual financial transactions. "It was very disconcerting for a small company … to wonder whether there was some internal fraud or embezzlement happening," he told reporters.
Continue reading this article — and all of our other premium content with Entrepreneur+
For just $5, you can get unlimited access to all Entrepreneur’s premium content. You’ll find:
- Digestible insight on how to be a better entrepreneur and leader
- Lessons for starting and growing a business from our expert network of CEOs and founders
- Meaningful content to help you make sharper decisions
- Business and life hacks to help you stay ahead of the curve