Even when companies back up their data on a regular basis, a cyber attack can still cause business operations to be interrupted or come to a complete standstill. A recent report indicated that just 38% of small businesses engaged in regular software solution upgrades. While both small and large companies are subject to cyber attacks, small businesses are being targeted 43% of the time. Due to experiencing these types of attacks, 60% of small companies will go out of business within six months.

Over the past 12 months, for example, a Small Business Trends survey revealed that 26% of the participating businesses had an SQL injection attack. Ransomware attacks have become even more common, and can literally freeze business operations. Between January and June of 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that there were over 4,000 ransomware attacks every day.

Unfortunately, a large percentage of cyber attacks are actually executed by employees. The 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index reported that this was the case with 60% of the reported attacks. In other instances, negligence leads to data breaches. The results of the Small Business Trends survey showed that 48% of the businesses indicated that a “negligent employee or contractor” was discovered to be the primary reason that this occurred.

While some businesses may believe they are prepared to handle a cyber attack, others may not be aware of what all is entailed. This is the case in both the United States and throughout the world. The 2015 Global Cybersecurity Status Report indicated that just 38% of the global organizations that were interview claimed they were prepared.

In order to prepare for a potential cyber attack, it’s important to work with SQL database consultants. In addition to providing your business with database administration services, these professionals know how to secure SQL Server databases. When your business has SQL database security, it can be instrumental in protecting sensitive information from ransomware attacks as well as other types of cyber attacks.

Once you begin working with SQL database consultants, they will be able to provide you with a security checklist. In this way, you will become even more informed on the necessary steps to take in the event that your company may experience a cyber attack. Since there are different types of database security measures that can be taken, these consultants will be able to recommend the best ones for your business needs.