Businesses across Chester County were reminded of the importance of cyber security during a symposium held at Penn State Great Valley last week, writes Brian McCullough for the Daily Local News.

Tech360, the full-day event focused on data security, emphasized the dangers that come with credit-card breaches such as the one that happened recently at Target.

“There’s always vulnerabilities and smart people out there who want to take advantage of those vulnerabilities,” said Rob Johnson, chief architect of the Stealth Program at Unisys.

According to Johnson, cyber security should be like an onion, offering layers underneath the outer layer that is protecting data. This is especially important as the threat is constantly growing.

“Light bulbs, home thermostats, DVRs, home routers can be infected really, really easily,” said Johnson.

Proper protection is especially important for smaller business. While companies like Target are able to absorb the losses from a data breach, the same situation could mean the end for a small or medium-sized company, said Austin Morris Jr. of Morris Risk Management.

Read more about the symposium in the Daily Local News here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of Penn State Great Valley here.