Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have been making waves in Silicon Valley in recent years: sophisticated smartphones and the video game industry have propelled this technology to a new, more consumer friendly frontier. Today we are discussing the past, present, and the exciting future of VR and AR.

A Brief History

Virtual reality has a short and humble History. Innovation in this field once moved at a turtle pace, riddled with failures and high hopes. The early pioneers of virtual reality paved the way for a remarkable resurgence in the 21st century. The industry has seen rapid advancement since the year 2000. Where did VR’s begin and how has it become a multi-billion dollar business?

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Cyberattacks are an increasing threat throughout the world as we become more and more dependent on technology. Recent attacks have wreaked havoc on individuals, companies, and whole countries. Criminals hack into computer systems and jeopardize national healthcare services, banks, energy companies, and airlines. The attacks are expanding in both breadth and scope. The major hacks will flood a news cycle, even this blog will review a couple of them. However, the small-scale attacks garner considerably less coverage.

Small Companies at risk

Thousands of small businesses are targeted by cyberattacks every day: according to the 2016 State of SMB Cybersecurity Report, half of all small businesses in the U.S. have been hacked in the last 12 months. To date, our website has prevented over 12,500 malicious login attempts.

So far we’ve been lucky. *knocks on wood*

The US National Cyber Security Alliance detailed that roughly 60% businesses that succumb to a cyberattack will be “out-of-business within a year”! And that’s not all: a study by Verizon claims that the internet is experiencing a 50% increase in ransomware being spread around online. There is a good reason ransomware has increased in popularity: it works!

Take a hospital in California as an example: it fell victim to a ransomware attack and ended up paying nearly $17,000 in bitcoin to unlock their systems. The internet is becoming a more dangerous and volatile place, but malicious software can’t take all the credit. The responsibility to keep a business safe still falls on the shoulders of its owner(s). The proper precautions must be taken to ensure the privacy, security, and integrity of a business’s online infrastructure.

You wouldn’t lay out sensitive information on the street for anyone to discover, would you? Don’t do it on the internet, then.

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