Cybersecurity

Putting Cyber Threats on To-Do Lists at Small Firms

A director of malware research at Dell SecureWorks monitors multiple
computer screens in his office in Myrtle Beach, S.C., hunting for Internet spies — A director of malware research at Dell SecureWorks monitors multiple computer screens in his office in Myrtle Beach, S.C., hunting for Internet spies Photograph by Stephen Morton/Bloomberg

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By Patrick Clark

March 21, 2013 at 8:56 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

How freaked out should small businesses be about cybercrime? Plenty, according to a flurry of recent warnings from government officials, insurers, and investors, as well as your more traditional alarmists like computer security firms. “Technically speaking, all hell has broken loose,” Bessemer Venture Partners’ David Cowan said yesterday, describing the state of computer hacking during an interview with Bloomberg Television.

In a House subcommittee hearing today about the threat to small businesses, Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) cited studies that found 20 percent of cyberattacks are on companies with fewer than 250 employees, and that 60 percent of small businesses close within six months after a cyberattack. He said recent attacks on behemoths should serve as a wake-up call to small ventures.