Ever since the Internet was invented, people have been at an increased risk of personal and financial data loss. Taking precautions to block intrusions and hackers is necessary on your home computer, but what about large businesses?

While most companies safeguard their data, they are also more likely to attract an intruder’s attention. Think about it: if someone steals your data, they have access to your information. But if they target a large company, the amount of stolen data and affected people largely increases. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the average individual is safe from intrusions and theft over the Internet.

In fact, when a company is targeted, it could be your information that is stolen! Lately, news articles have been reporting about several large businesses and government websites that have fallen victim to hackers. The same group, called Anonymous, claims to be behind most of these attacks. So far, it seems that they have only implemented denial-of-service attacks, or DOS. This mainly blocks users from accessing company websites and information. While it doesn’t necessarily steal information, any breach should be taken seriously.

Recent claims credit Anonymous with hacking websites belonging to the Department of Justice, FBI, Universal Music Group, NASDAQ, BATS, and most recently, the security supply company Combined Systems. While this specific group is getting a lot of attention, there are many other hacking organizations out there that have larger agendas than blocking access to websites.

So if these agencies irritated Anonymous enough to bring on an attack, imagine what could happen on a larger scale. It isn’t only businesses and agencies that are at risk; breaching utility companies, nuclear power plants and websites for the national transportation systems could cause catastrophic damage.

While some arrests and investigations have taken place against Anonymous over the years, they are obviously still very powerful and operating as usual. So what kind of situation needs to happen before people realize that more precautions need to be put in place?

However, it seems as though there is some movement in the right direction. A handful of senators have put together a bill that would force utility companies and other critical infrastructures to use extra safeguards against hackers.

This bill is only in the beginning stages, but that does bring hope that a more secure system is near. It also seems that someone is taking notice of the possible damage that could be done, before something horrible happens. Who knows what will come of this bill, but I guess baby steps is better than no steps.