According to numerous industry sources, attacks targeted at small
businesses and startups has doubled in the first half of 2012. Targeted
attacks are tailored specifically to a certain company or type of business and
hackers develop malware and strategy catered to their victims. Small business
owners may find this shocking that hackers and identity thieves would go
through so much trouble to target their company. Even though it may seem
logical that most online
fraud is geared towards larger companies with huge accounts to hack, small
businesses make for an easier target.
Small business owners and start-ups usually have fewer
resources than big companies to monitor and prevent fraud. This is not just
technology and budget but manpower. Small businesses usually have fewer staff
members who have more responsibility and are busy tending to business
activities that help grow the business. Fraud prevention is usually an after
thought, or thought of as something that only large enterprises can afford.
Small business also tend to have more of an online presence due to lack of a
brick and mortar store or budget. With ecommerce, mobile
payments, and social
payments, the Internet is the perfect place for small start-ups to create a
presence. Many small business owners may
not have a fraud
prevention system in tact for the simple reason that they do not think they
need one. These are some of the reasons why small businesses are experiencing
more fraud online.
In order to help prevent fraudulent activity online, small
businesses need to implement some type of fraud
prevention system. Whether it is something manual or an online platform,
small businesses need to protect themselves as well. The truth is, the cost of
a hacking or lawsuit due to identity fraud, could end up costing a small
business more than just implementing a way to prevent it. Using identity
verification and authentication can help ward off unwanted visitors from
accessing site information or activity. It can also help to prevent any stolen
identity information from being processed on a site. By implementing these
tactics into a companys online presence, small businesses can save themselves
the trouble of a breach down the road.
[Contributed by EVS Marketing]
