GREENVILLE — A huge number of Greenville businesses are at risk of a cyber-attack that could expose sensitive information – even customer data – to criminal gangs.

That’s because not enough people are trained in what to do if they think they’ve accidentally clicked on an email containing a bad link.

According to Mark Howell of Greenville and IT specialist at Darke Cloud Solutions, most people don’t know what to do, and businesses are not taking the threat of a cyber-attack seriously enough.

“Ransomware attacks that use email have become the weapon of choice for many criminal gangs, because they offer the greatest reward for the least effort,” Howell said.

“They’re most commonly launched when an employee clicks on a legitimate-looking fake email which then downloads malware onto the company network.

“That allows criminals to steal sensitive data – possibly including customers’ private information – and then demand a ransom to return it. Many businesses never recover from the experience.”

Small businesses are increasingly being targeted because criminals know that bigger organizations are deploying huge resources to counter their attacks.

Companies in Greenville could be taking some really simple steps to defend themselves against cyber threats like this.

But Howell believes that some people are too complacent, and they’re wrong to think that this could never happen to them.

He said, “The best thing any business can do is to train their people in how to spot suspicious emails. That’s because it’s usually a simple human error that opens the door to the criminals in the first place.

“There are also lots of technical solutions available, which depend on the individual business and the nature of the information they store. That’s something to discuss with an IT professional as every business is different.”

Darke Cloud Solutions was formed in 2014 and specializes in supporting local businesses in the Greenville area.