Small Organizations Too Can Be Hackers’ Target

Small organizations generally believe that they are at least risk of hacking assaults as large companies are the first preference of scammers. But the fact is that hackers often target small businesses. Since, unlike larger organizations possessing more resources, these small firms may not have technologically advanced security systems.

An information technology employee for the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission stumbled on an intruder when he was combing through the agency's website. The person had an ISP address in Germany, which he used to break into the site to try and sneak at private information meant for access to only commission employees. The IT worker immediately shut down the system.

The intruder appeared to get in through some external point of the network, said Richard Peters, the IT manager for the agency. Los Angeles Times reported this on May 22, 2007. The hacker's purpose was probably to get hold of confidential data, Peters said.

After taking its website offline, the commission set up an investigation to find out what the hacker had compromised. The commission realized that the hacker could not access any of the confidential information that included names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of 4,800 residents of the public housing scheme.

The commission's security system had kept the servers separated that prevented the hacker to reach the next portion of the computer network, Peters said. The incident was an important lesson for the agency's 650 employees and a technical team of 30. They learnt that it is extremely essential to conduct a security examination by an external auditor, Peters added. Last year, the commission was among the many U.S. organizations that suffered security breaches. However, most organizations had been affected unlike the agency.

Companies should take all those steps pertaining to protection of database from hackers and unauthorized persons, said Barry Mozian, president of security firm Talon Executive Services Inc, of Fountain Valley. Los Angeles Times reported this on May 22, 2007.

About 70% of hacking on small organizations arises due to internal problems, as per Mozian. Small business proprietors should limit internal access to only important information, and conduct background verifications before recruiting an employee, he said.

Related article: Small & Medium Enterprises Overlook Cyber Attacks

» SPAMfighter News - 5/31/2007