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Cybersecurity summit urges companies to share hacking woes

Posted at 8:44 AM, Oct 29, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-29 09:44:44-04

MILWAUKEE -- About 60% of small businesses have been hit by a cyber attack. It has cost organizations more than $100,000 in lost revenue and there is also embarrassment of telling others.

"A lot of times people don't want to share them and we need to culturally get over that," said Tina Chang, Syslogic CEO.

Milwaukee's top cybersecurity minds hosted a community summit. IT service management company Syslogic CEO Tina Chang says you may be surprised by who is not keeping up with the times.

"Law enforcement and government is part of the core where we need to play catch up," said Chang. "Government has more sensitive data, and often times they don't have the budget to stay up with the time."

A software engineering professor at Milwaukee School of Engineering warns a common way crooks are cracking into your network is by luring you to click on phishing emails, which can affect the entire system.

"If their cell phone has been attacked, now that business network is potentially suspect," said Walter Schilling.

Marquette's leader on cybersecurity warns criminals are sneaking their way in through vulnerable devices connected to your internet.

"A little toy pet you could buy for your child and put in your bed, and somebody hacked into that and was able to access all that information and those messages going back and forth," said Tom Kaczmarek of Marquette University's Center for Cybersecurity Awareness and Defense.

Businesses making those latest gadgets are being put on notice too.

"Really at that design phase where you say, 'okay, if I was a hacker, how do I prevent that hacker from getting in?'" said Chang.

If you fall victim to a scam and your intellectual property has been stolen, you are urged to contact police immediately.