Feb 14, 2018 2 min read

CHARLEROI – Most small businesses have financial and marketing strategies, but many of them don’t have a plan to deal with cybersecurity, according to Small Business Development Center in Pittsburgh.

“They don’t know where to start,” said Michael R. Wholihan, the center’s manager of training and community outreach.

Cyber attacks have become the nation’s number one crime, and hackers can disrupt major corporations that have teams in place to prevent and deal with them, Wholihan said when he spoke Tuesday at a meeting of Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce at Charleroi Elks Club.

He said small business owners might not know where to begin if a hacker manages to disrupt their computers, phones and ability to fill sales orders.

“There is now cyber liability insurance,” he said. “There are affordable plans out there.”

Wholihan also passed out literature offering small businesses tips on how to prevent hacking incidents, 62 percent of which target small or mid-size businesses.

The tips included using antivirus and antimalware protection and updating computer operating systems on a regular basis.

Debbie Buck, owner of Audrey’s Custom Draperies in Charleroi, said she conducts business using a paper ledger, and that method lowers her risk for a cyber attack.

“I don’t need to use a computer,” Buck said.

Small Business Development Center offers free counseling to its clients and also works with them to find the money they need to get started or grow. Last year, it found $14 million in funding for small businesses in Washington, Greene and part of Allegheny County.

Its offices at the University of Pittsburgh can be reached at 412-624-1368 and www.sbdc.pitt.edu