As 2017 is quickly coming to an end, it’s time for all the “best of” lists to come out along with the “worst” lists.

The phrase any business owner most dreads hearing at the moment is probably, "data breach." A data breach means you failed to protect your customers' information and that you're about to lose the trust of your clientele.

Every year, the security industry tries to predict what the biggest threats will be in hopes of pulling together a stronger defense. It’s impossible to get this 100% right, but if we use what we learned in 2017, we can leverage that knowledge to safeguard businesses and consumers in the new year.

Hackers and cybercriminals are out to get you. Heck, nefarious governments are spying on you, too.

Are you sitting at your desk? Go ahead, reach down, and open your desk drawer. You know the one. It’s the drawer that holds a couple outdated cellphones, a tangle of paper clips, and mystery cables from long-gone devices.

We are constantly hearing new and revised advice on thinking up and managing passwords, but sometimes we have to deal with more than just passwords when it comes to online security. Some sites also require answers to a series of security questions that can later be used to verify your account or recover a lost password.

It's time to get serious about digital security. To put it bluntly, we are under attack and have been for quite some time.

In case you haven't noticed yet, massive data breaches and leaks seem to happen every day. Our online accounts are constantly under attack and it's as critical as ever to secure our personal information.