At least 76 million households and 7 million small businesses were compromised during this summer’s cyberattack on JPMorgan Chase. This makes the attack, which occurred during June and July, one of the largest on an American corporation to date. In fact, it’s bigger than the recent Target and Home Depot cyberattacks which affected 40 million and 56 million cardholders, respectively.

While no instances of fraud have been reported yet and no money was actually stolen, it is clear that hackers did obtain the names, physical addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of account holders. No Social Security numbers were taken.

But what is more troubling than the volume or extent of the stolen data, which was obtained by hacking into more than 90 company servers,  is the fact that it was aimed at a major U.S. financial institution. Many security experts thought that such an attack would be impossible due to the industry’s tough digital safeguards and trained security professionals who work around the clock to prevent such attacks from occurring. The attack on JPMorgan Chase, which is the largest U.S. bank, now has many people questioning whether the U.S. financial sector has the wherewithal to combat the growing intensity of cyber security threats.

This attack should therefore be a wakeup call to business leaders that it’s time to start taking digital security seriously. Don’t wait for a data breach to occur to realize the importance of safeguarding your customers’ digital information. Act now to ensure your network is up to date with the latest hardware and software. And consider investing in a program that will offer around-the-clock network monitoring and troubleshooting.

Click here for more information about how APEX Managed IT services in Norwalk, CT can help keep your network safe during this tumultuous time.