Hackers are turning their cyberattack focus on small businesses. What is a cyberattack? It is when an individual or group uses another’s website for malicious activity. This activity includes stealing personal information, bank account information, or mailing lists that the hacker uses to send malicious materials to others. Small business has become the target because many “do not have the resources for sophisticated security measures,” says Michael Lin, vice president at VeriSign, a division of Symantec.

How does the hacker do this? According to USA Today, first they must obtain your username and password. This can be achieved by stealing it themselves or purchasing it from other data thieves. Next, the hacker logs on as site administrator and infects your site with a program called a script. Once the site has been infected, anyone who visits the site can become infected as well.

While hacking is nothing new to the cyberworld, the number of attacks has grown significantly over the past three years. Most people don’t know that their site has been infected until groups that search for these infected sites – like Microsoft and Google – block access to the site, place them on a blacklist and notify the owners. Web browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari are ideal for small businesses because they use these blacklists to warn the user about those sites.

So how do small businesses protect their websites? USA Today recommends business owners visit StopBadware.org, a website that give free information to businesses on how to prevent their site from being hacked. The most important tactic to combat hacking is to buy an anti-virus program. The free anti-virus programs that are available only partially protect your computer system. Hackers can easily find ways around these free programs and infect your system.

To read the entire USA Today article and get more tips on how to prevent cyberattacks please click here.