Google, Microsoft and Apple’s Flaw Crumbles Small Businesses
Criminal hackers wreak havoc on Illinois small businesses
Many small businesses move their affairs online and remote in the past few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The vast migration has caused an uprise in Zoom meetings, email communication, and millions of people working from home, but something else is on the rise with it; cybercrime.
The catalyst for the new wave of hacking attacks could be from flaws in Microsoft, Apple, or even Google’s software, which can be infiltrated and allow criminal hackers to devastate small businesses.
Cybersecurity analysts reported that cybercrime skyrocketed at least 8 to 10-fold since the coronavirus pandemic began. Within this short period, Illinois small businesses suffered the most attacks recording losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars from cybercrimes.
With cyberattacks rocketing out of control, the House committee on cybersecurity, data analytics, and Information Technology filed the Cyber Security Compliance Act. This bill requires Illinois businesses and state institutions to create a cybersecurity program that safeguards personal information. With this cyber-security program, exploited companies could mount an affirmative defense to protect them from liabilities in any lawsuits springing from cyber attacks.
Cybercrime for 2021 should be more devastating as cybercriminals of this new era are more ruthless and sophisticated than any in the past. Rather than small-time hackers most criminal hacking group has organized crime syndicates and foreign governments as their support source.
As software companies continue to make so-called ‘strides’ in providing tighter cybersecurity, so are these criminals; a constant game of playing cat-and-mouse.
According to London-based cybersecurity firm Clario, Illinois was the hardest-hit state in the United States by cybercrime in 2020, and the attacks have continued. For instance, in Illinois alone, cybercrime losses totaled $107,152,415, affecting 14.6 of every 1,000 people.
The phenomenon of criminal cyber-attacks has grown into a real international industry leaving vulnerable companies to deal with the utmost accountability. However, it’s something not only organized criminals are responsible for, but entire nations’ involvement too.
At the same time, don’t count out the small-timers looking for a quick buck. Cybercrime is everywhere – And it’s more dangerous than ever before in 2021.
So, how do you protect your business from criminal hackers? You must hire an ethical hacker with genuine certification. Only ethical hackers can protect your company from a devastating cyber attack, which could put you out of business.
