Why do I need to spend money on security software for my computer?

Don’t think online criminals

Don’t think online criminals are going to ignore you. In fact, your computer and website may be more likely to get hacked. According to an article from Krebs on Security, attacks against small businesses increased by nearly 600% last year. The article goes on to point out that with large companies investing more in effective Internet security, criminals are turning towards the 25 million small businesses in the U.S.

At the end of 2009, USA Today cited FBI statistics from 2008 and 2009 showing losses of $40 million from small business bank accounts due to malware on unsuspecting business computers. The malware accesses small business bank accounts and instigates wire transfers to accounts around the world.

To help reduce the chances of thieves stealing your money take these steps:

• Consider setting aside a separate computer to handle nothing but online banking transactions.
• Install anti-virus software on all your computers, software that automatically updates itself.
• Register all the software you use on your computers so you receive any automatic updates.
• Never open any suspicious emails or SPAM emails or click on suspicious links from websites you’re not familiar well. Many of these contain malware that can infect your computers.
• Check your bank balance daily so you notice anything suspicious sooner rather than later.

Not the answer you were looking for? Ask us!