Are you a cyber security doubter?

Do you think you and your business are immune from online attacks?

You’re not alone. But you may be avoiding dealing with reality.

Despite all that’s happening in the world, and the dramatic increase in hacks on both personal and business computers and systems, many people are still cyber crime deniers.

Here are some numbers from well respected sources that will convince even the most hardened unbelievers to believe that cyber security is worth paying attention to because it’s a real threat to your operation.

63 percent of companies suspect that their data was compromised in the last 12 months.

According to a survey by Dell, more than three out of five companies think that their data may have been compromised because of a hardware or software problem in the last year.

The issue: It’s hard to believe that there are still cyber security unbelievers out there, especially when you see a statistic like this one. If someone told you that there is a more than 60 percent chance that a meteor could hit you on the head in the next year, you’d take steps to prevent it. It’s likely that you would start wearing a helmet and make it a point to stay indoors in a protected space so you don’t get hit, and if you do, the impact would be limited. It’s hard to understand why more business owners don’t take steps to prevent security breaches especially when they know the chance of one happening to them is so great.

94 percent of malware is delivered through email.

According to a recent study from Verizon, most of the malware, the harmful software that cyber crooks use to steal data and wreak havoc on computer networks, is introduced onto computers and data systems through email. Cyber thieves don’t need to break into businesses. All they have to do is send a convincing email and get someone to open it or act on it.

The issue: The people who work for you are busy. They don’t pay close attention to every email that hits their inbox. But they should. You owe it to yourself to find out how you can protect your business from simple employee errors, including how to handle email safely. Our article explains everything you need to know. Check it out.

Phishing attacks account for more than 80 percent of security incidents.

The same Verizon study reports that four out of five security breaches are related to phishing. Most of the emails that hackers send out include a prompt that unleashes the malware that can harm systems and steal data. This includes requests to click on a link or download something. Once this happens, malware is released and goes on the attack.

The number of phishing incidents has increased dramatically in the short time since the Verizon study was released. Most of this activity is connected to the coronavirus pandemic. Thieves posing as representatives of health and government agencies send out emails containing pandemic related news and ask people to click to get more information or download a checklist, form or other type of document. Pandemic related attacks have caused a great deal of damage to companies across the United States and around the world.

The issue: Phishing attacks are easy to avoid. Training employees on how to look out for — and handle — “phishy” emails could have prevented the vast majority of them.

60 percent of breaches could be avoided with a patch.

When a data breach happens, the companies that developed the impacted software or system immediately develop a patch to prevent it from occurring again. These patches are included in software, app and system updates, which are almost always provided to users for free.

The issue: Most businesses don’t have policies and procedures in place to upgrade their systems and software on a regular basis. Because of this, the patches that are available to prevent hacks aren’t installed on their computers and other devices. It’s frustrating to think that something as simple as regularly updating systems and software, which takes little time and no cost, could prevent three out of five security issues.

$17,700 is lost every minute because of phishing attacks.

A recent study by RiskIQ quantifies the cost of phishing attacks alone to businesses across the United States at almost $18,000 per minute. Another study from Security Magazine pegs the average cost of a data breach for a small business at between $36,000 and $50,000. That number increases considerably into the millions of dollars for mid- to large-sized companies.

The issue: Most organizations don’t have cash to burn, especially during the current economic crisis. Taking simple, inexpensive steps like partnering with the experts at GeeksHD could prevent most business data breaches. A small investment in security could eliminate the costs, added work and harm to reputations that result from phishing attacks and data breaches when they happen to businesses.