The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has started a new website for SMBs with an objective to help small businesses avoid cyber attacks. Based on the inputs of the acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen, the website was started to host articles, videos, and other info aimed to educate owners of small businesses to avoid scams and protect their computers and networks from cyber attacks and other related cyber threats like Phishing scams.
“As small businesses are extremely critical to the economic growth of any nation, FTC is planning to help them compete in the global marketplace without the fear and concern from cyber attacks”, said Maureen Ohlhausen. She added that the new website will act as a one-stop shop for SMBs to find relevant information on how to protect themselves from scammers and hackers.
According to a study made by US Small Business Administration (SBA), there are more than 28 million small businesses nationwide that are employing nearly 57 million people.
So, hackers are often seen launching cyber attacks on these businesses to mint money in any form. This includes asking them to pay for the supplies they did not order, donate to fake charities or trick the victims into downloading malware that can corrupt the computers of a business or hold data for ransom.
Symantec Corp’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report also confirmed that the percentage of spear phishing attacks taking place on SMBs has risen dramatically from 18% to 43% between 2011 and 2015.
Let’s hope that the new website launched by FTC helps small businesses isolate themselves from cyber attacks.
