I recently read an article in USA Today: Hackers target small-company sites. According to the article, since early June, a team of hackers has been using an automated attack to inject malicious code on some 20,000 to 30,000 sites, many of them small businesses that rely on the Internet to reach customers. That was 20 to 30 THOUSAND websites hacked by just this one gang in about a month's time. Why are small-business websites targeted in particular? Because few small businesses devote the resources necessary to secure their websites against hacker attacks. Specifically, a report by Panda Security found that of the small businesses surveyed:

• 36% rely on free consumer anti-virus applications
• 31% have no anti-spam
• 23% have no anti-spyware
• 15% have no firewall
• 13% have no security at all

If you've had your website hacked, you know what a problem it can be for you and your business. If you haven't, then consider the story of Passen Law Group, a two-man personal injury firm in Chicago. A little over a month ago, attorney Matt Passen directed his browser to the home page of his firm's website. Instead of the usual page, Passen says that he saw something new: "A series of letters and numbers that made no sense to me." Not long afterward, Google notified Passen that his website was infected and blocked access to it. Passen immediately hired experts to find and delete the viral script on three separate occasions over the next several weeks. Unfortunately, the first two fixes lasted only about a week each before the infection recurred. Says Passen, "It will easily cost us a couple thousand dollars to remedy, and I can't tell you what the costs are in terms of lost business opportunity."

So, the lesson is that you shouldn't think that just because you have a small business, hackers don't care about your website. They do. In fact, because your business is a small business, that makes your site especially attractive.

Take steps to secure your website, before -- not after -- someone hacks it.