We've warned for some time that hackers just don't pursue big businesses -- they scan for vulnerabilities they can exploit on small networks, as well.

Most small business owners express surprise and skepticism when we tell them this.

They figure they couldn't possibly have anything on their computers that would interest a hacker, or that the potential for attacking them wouldn't be worth a hacker's effort, so they figure they don't have cause for concern.

Hackers, on the other hand, figure small business owners generally think that way and won't take the steps necessary to secure their information.

Consequently, those networks are much easier to break into to steal valuable data such as contacts, addresses, and Social Security and credit card numbers.

And now, a Wall Street Journal article has confirmed this , citing a report from Visa that 95% of the attacks on its customers are now on small business networks. It referred to another report from the U.S. Secret Service and Verizon's forensic analysis unit that 63% of all attacks in 2010 were on businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

Whereas hackers in the past sought fame, hackers today seek fortune. And whereas hackers of the past wanted to be known, today's hacker wants to avoid detection.

So instead of attacking a highly secure network like a bank, a hacker can target small businesses that will be much easier to break into, yield valuable data even if in smaller quantities, and won't likely have the tools or personnel in place to know they've even been hacked.

That describes just about every small business that processes credit card transactions or stores social security numbers on their computers.

We've seen hacking attempts on small businesses, ourselves, from countries like the Netherlands, Australia and Asia, in addition to the U.S.

To protect yourself, ensure your anti-virus software is up to date. If it isn't up to date, it won't even be able to detect a virus that was written after your software's most recent update. That's why anti-virus software typically updates at least once a day. Some update every hour.

Because most "viruses" are actually malware that install programs that steal keystrokes or data and send it back to the hacker over the Internet, you should also consider spending $24.95 for the anti-malware program MalwareBytes.

You may be familiar with the free version of MalwareBytes, but that version, while effective in removing malware that ordinary anti-virus programs don't even see, doesn't block malware from installing. Only the paid version does, and it appears to be pretty effective based on our customers who have purchased the paid version.

If you have employees, develop an Acceptable Use Policy to dictate how employees can use your network.

Finally, if you're storing credit card or Social Security information or processing credit cards using your computers, you must follow federal and state regulations and credit card issuer policies for protecting that information.

FlexITechs can help you in this process. You can call us at 537-4198 for information.