By Sky Mundell

SALT LAKE CITY — The technology for conducting cyberattacks continues to increase in its accessibility and use by criminals. Meanwhile, businesses are forced to fight sophisticated digital threats on a virtual battlefield or risk the loss of tangible, real-life assets.

Small businesses are at an increasingly high risk.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Travelers Institute, which encourages leaders in the insurance and financial industries to participate in ongoing public policy dialogue, 55% of business leaders in Salt Lake City expect that their businesses will become the eventual victim of a breach in their cybersecurity.

"The financial implications are obviously huge," James Woulfe, assistant vice president of the Travelers Institute, said at a conference Tuesday at Salt Lake City's Le Méridien hotel, explaining what is at stake when a business becomes the victim of a cyberattack. "Aside from the financial implications, you've got a reputation that can be put on the line and you also have business interruption — if you're a small business and your email system is down and you can't email your clients, what're you going to do? You're in big trouble."

Joan Woodward, the institute's president, and cybersecurity experts gave business leaders at the symposium a better idea of how they can secure their businesses and their assets from bad actors who are using increasingly sophisticated methods to breach companies through their virtual weaknesses.

The Travelers Institute said only 26% of businesses in Salt Lake City feel that they know enough about cybersecurity to confidently say that they can keep the data and information belonging to their clients safe — a concerning statistic to experts like Shawn P. Murray, who has spent the last two decades as a cybersecurity specialist for various U.S. federal agencies.

These virtual attacks have now become more complex than simple phishing schemes: Artificial intelligence has entered the ring and proven itself to be a game changer in the world of cybercrime.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50924006/with-millions-of-dollars-and-reputations-at-stake-businesses-learn-more-about-ai-virtual-threats