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Some business owners have difficulty understanding the importance of website and web application security. They may think they're too small to warrant the attention of hackers, or they may have other priorities regarding their website. However, there are more and more reports of attacks on smaller company websites. An alarming 70% of data breaches occur in companies with fewer than 100 employees. For multiple reasons, small businesses need to take security seriously and protect their websites and internal web applications from cyberattacks.

While it's true that cybercriminals tend to target larger corporate targets, they also target smaller businesses because they provide more bang for their buck. Most cyberattacks are financially motivated and require very little investment from criminals. It only takes one employee clicking on an email attachment or link for a hacker to gain access to your network - and once inside, there's not much stopping them from stealing data or launching other types of attacks against you and your customers. Many small companies have reported experiencing more significant impacts due to cyberattacks than bigger companies - such as longer downtime periods or higher costs due to mitigation efforts like hiring forensic investigators after an intrusion occurs.

So what should companies be doing to prevent and handle cybersecurity concerns? If you're operating a small business, use systems that are part of a larger organization. Rather than build a custom website or e-commerce solution, use platforms like Shopify. If you have internal web applications running portions of your business, ensure you're budgeting for security upgrades and scanning tools that help identify "weak" points in your system. Many companies perform penetration testing and other "staged" attack methods that can help identify holes in your system. These tests should be run yearly, and all businesses should anticipate having to improve security measures annually. Unfortunately, not all cybercriminals take vacations at the same time.

Furthermore, all businesses should have a cyberattack response plan in place. If you get attacked, it's better to have a plan of how to address it rather than scrambling around and phoning any company you can find to help resolve the matter. Attacks can be costly, and not having a strategy for handling an attack will only intensify those costs.

Whether you're a large corporation with a few hundred employees or a small startup, cybersecurity has always been an essential element of business. But, the more we digitize our systems and rely on those new digital systems, the more effort and attention we all need to dedicate to cybersecurity.