Small-business owners can learn about what they should know and do to lessen the risk of their business being hacked or compromised by a cyber security incident at a seminar co-sponsored by the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) at Missouri University of Science and Technology and the Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce this June.

The Don’t Let Your Business Get Hacked seminar will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, at the Columbia College Auditorium, 550 Blues Lake Parkway, Rolla. Cost is $8 and includes lunch. Registration is required. To register, visit eventbrite.com/e/dont-let-your-business-get-hacked-tickets-34215983929. For more information call 573-341-7584 or email aarond@mst.edu.

“Cyber attacks can and do happen to small businesses in our area,” says Keith Strassner, director of technology transfer and economic development at Missouri S&T and the SBTDC service location that it operates. “A cyber incident can really cripple a small business, or even put them out of business. In fact, 60 percent of companies that have a breach never recover. This seminar will help business owners understand where they might be vulnerable and learn steps they can take to lessen their risk of being hacked.”

In the past four years, cyber attacks on small businesses have increased 660 percent. According to the National Small Business Association, the average attack on a small business costs that business $7,115. Companies that had their bank accounts hacked lost an average of $32,020.

“Our Small Business Committee has been working to bring this type of seminar to our area businesses, and we’re happy to partner with the SBTDC on this event,” says Stevie Kearse, executive director of the Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce.

Speakers at the Don’t Let Your Business Get Hacked seminar include a security expert from the federal government as well as experts from Meramec Instrument Transformer Co., Missouri S&T, Phelps County Regional Medical Center and Phelps County Bank.

Missouri S&T’s SBTDC provides business counseling and assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses. Most services are provided at no cost to the client. It is a University of Missouri Extension partner and part of the Missouri SBTDC statewide network, which is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

For more information about workshops, resources, and programs offered by Missouri S&T’s SBTDC, visit ecodevo.mst.edu/info/sbtdc/ or contact Strassner at 573-341-6579 or kdstrass@mst.edu.