Do you lock your door when you leave your home? Do you hide your valuables before leaving a parking lot? You probably don’t even think about it when you take these basic precautions.

If it’s second nature to protect your tangible valuables, are you that careful with your digital ones?

Cyberattacks against personal and business computer systems are becoming more common every year. The 2021 FBI Internet Crime Report says Texas had 41,148 reported cyberattack victims and lost $606.2 million to cybercrime last year. And those are just the incidents we know about, says Wade McCain, cybersecurity training specialist at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Cyber Readiness Center. Plenty go unreported.

“Typically, cybercriminals are going for money. Whatever leads them to money will be the biggest target,” he says. They may be interested in personally identifiable information, customer and financial data, intellectual property and trade secrets, or systems and business plans.

This article from the June issue of Texas REALTOR® magazine identifies steps you can take to protect yourself and your business online from cyberattacks. The more of them you implement, the safer you’ll be.