SmallBusinessNewz

There's a common denominator in Internet crime: personal information. Whatever criminals can grab offers them a shot at profitability.

Where those details come from doesn't matter. What's important is for small business owners to realize the information they have about themselves and their customers matters to thieves.

Security vendor McAfee said their survey of small and medium businesses found 52 percent believed they were little enough to escape notice. Those owners install software, leave it on its default settings, and continue on with the business of doing business.

The survey turned up some interesting percentages related to what people think about their risk at the hands of crooks:

* 35% of SMBs are ”not concerned” about being a target for cybercrime
* 52% don't think they are well known enough to be a target for cybercriminals
* 45% of SMBs do not think they are a valuable target for cybercriminals
* 46% do not think they could make a cybercriminal any money
* 44% of SMBs think cybercrime is an issue for larger companies

If you don't want to spend a week or more recovering from a criminal intrusion into your electronic records, McAfee advised on several steps to keep safe. Email filtering, encrypting data, and keeping up to date on software patches helps one avoid what could be a devastating invasion of your business.