Protect Your Business and Your Money
Not only is owning a business stressful, it can also be scary. There are so many scams and hackers out there that it becomes difficult to tell spam emails from legitimate ones. Cyberthieves pin down a few main points about your company and before you know it your employee is lured into providing crucial information to strangers.
That information could lead to stolen money, documents, credit card numbers, etc. The list goes on and on for what criminals are able to access these days. To add insult to injury, banks were not being held liable for stolen funds. That may be changing.
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the courts now extending legal protection to small firms whose accounts had been hacked. The WSJ states,
“Until the two recent rulings, many lawyers might have advised small-business owners against trying to go after a bank for losses due to cyberhacking. Banks that take "commercially reasonable" steps to guard against cyberattacks and process transactions in good faith can't be held liable for funds stolen by hackers, cybersecurity experts say. Those steps are usually laid out in contracts between banks and their clients, adding another layer of protection for the banks.
After the two rulings, however, banks can't feel comfortable relying on their contracts to protect them from liability, according to Stewart A. Baker, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP and a former Homeland Security official.”
Protect your business. One company mentioned in the article, Symantec Corp., offers security, storage, and systems management solutions to help businesses secure and manage their information. Never give out information via email and only identify the source you are giving it to. Also, review your bank contract. Be sure you know your rights if you ever are facing legal issues. Be sure your employees are trained on handling company information. Knowing what to look for will limit potential fraud.