The rapid rise in technology has made many things possible for small businesses that weren’t even imaginable just a few decades ago. The internet revolutionized the way businesses can conduct research, email changed communication forever, and now social media and mobile are game changers for the way we interact with consumers. Unfortunately, however, while technology has opened up many new positive benefits to small business owners it has at the same time exposed them to new risks. Indeed, malicious hackers are now a threat to small business owners as the world becomes more and more interconnected through technology. Individual hackers or those working for rival companies could potentially break into your network and steal proprietary secrets or cause damage to critical systems. How big a concern are these new trends? In H1 2012 alone, 470 million e-mails carrying malicious software were detected and intercepted by security agencies, double the 235 million from 2011. Further, spam email makes up over 80% of all email traveling over the internet currently. A majority of these risks can be managed with proper IT security techniques and at a lower cost than often expected. USA Today continues, “advanced website defenses have long been available to large enterprises with deep pockets, but affordable versions for SMBs have come on the market only in the past two years, says Paul Judge, Barracuda's chief research officer.

"The attackers are out there taking a shotgun approach, putting their malware anywhere they can," Judge says. "That's why small businesses have to care about this nowadays." For Lockhart, the extra layer of protection serves as a pressure-relief valve. "Knowing that you've got that piece out front gives you a bit of breathing space," he says. "It gives you time to focus on making sure your services are available to the public during peak hours." In addition to filtering malicious spam and website probes, another line of defense that small businesses are shoring up is basic anti-virus protection for company-owned desktops, laptops and mobile devices…”