As businesses rely more on digital technology, they increasingly expose themselves to disruptive cyber attacks, so prevention is rapidly becoming a major issue for business, particularly small businesses, who often lack the knowledge and skills to protect themselves. In response, the Federal Government's Department of Industry, Innovation and Science is running a series of free monthly webinars for business owners. Each 60 minute lunchtime webinar focuses on a different aspec

Cyber crime is here to stay and small businesses need to be prepared and alert. That was the message from Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, to the 2017 Security Exhibition and Conference in Sydney recently. Ms Carnell said criminals have been targeting small business operators since commerce began. “What’s changed over the centuries isn’t the act of crime, but how it’s committed,” she said. “A burglar is just as likely to break into a co

Keywords are a very important component of digital marketing as using the right keywords on your website help your customers find you. Unfortunately, many businesses take this practice too far and end up with keyword stuffing – which is a huge turn off for visitors and can even get your site blacklisted in Google. At the end of the day, keywords are one tool in your marketing arsenal, but remember that your primary objective is to deliver relevant, captivating content for you

Hot on the heels of yesterday's news on fake MYOB invoices, comes news that an estimated one in four Australian businesses have just been hit by a massive malware attack disguised as an Origin Energy electricity bill. The authentic looking bills have a prominent "View bill" link that, when clicked, goes to a website which downloads a compressed file containing malware. If opened, software in the file installs itself on the computer and logs users’ data and keystrokes in an at

Nearly 6000 businesses reported being targeted by scams in 2016 according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Targeting Scams report, with losses totalling around $3.8 million, an increase of almost 31 per cent. The highest losses were to computer hacking, fake investment schemes and buying and selling scams, according to reports made to Scamwatch over the past year. “As recent events with the WannaCry ransomware scam demonstrates, businesses can be just a

There's lot of talk about ransomware at the moment, but how does it work and do you really need protection? Well, in brief, it's one of the most malicious forms of cyber-attack you can experience and, yes, you definitely need stronger 'policing' of your computer network than your regular anti-virus protection. Ransomware infects a computer and restricts users’ access to it until a 'ransom' is paid to unlock it. Ransomware variants have been around for several years but have b