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Seventy-three percent of Americans have been victims of cyber crimes, while 90 percent of US-based businesses have experienced unanticipated online breaches. In December, YAHOO! announced that more than one billion of its accounts were illegally accessed in 2013. Earlier this month, Paypal and Gmail phishing scams duped unsuspecting users into handing over personal data. Why aren't companies doing more to protect their customers' personal information? Are we always at risk? "The companies are improving, there are a lot of innovative services to use against attacks," CUJO Smart Firewall CEO Einaras Gravrock told us Friday. "That being said, there's two problems. First, there's a lot of old infrastructure. In the case of YAHOO!, we're talking about a company that's been coding out their data for 20 years or so. It takes time to secure an entity like that. Second, these cyber criminals are just as sophisticated, if not more. They're making tremendous amounts of money doing what they do." Another alarming statistic - it takes an experienced hacker just 10 minutes to crack a six-character password, and a mere four hours to decipher a seven-character password. "We see a ton of cyber attacks against individuals," Gravrock said. Gone are the hackers from 20 years ago, when the internet was still in its infancy - bored, suburban kids who enjoyed causing virtual mischief from their parents' basements. Today's online criminals use sophisticated software, bots, viruses, Trojans and phishing techniques to infiltrate businesses and homes. Many of the attacks are automated, which means cyber thieves can access data even while they're sleeping. "These cyber criminals send out an army of bots to probe the internet and look for weak points. They may stumble upon a company that has a bunch of weak spots, or they may stumble upon 200 users, 200 homes," Gravrock explained. "The hacks are mostly automated. They'll use malware, they'll try to hack certain devices, access cameras or a network. Try to get financials. Much of it is automated. Don't think of it as a person somewhere, your neighbor's kid that's doing this. These are very sophisticated attempts that are not discriminating." Will we see more security breaches in the future? "Absolutely. It's a massive money making machine for bad guys," he said. Many virtual attacks on US-based businesses or individuals come from countries like Russia or China. Russian law enforcement typically won't punish hackers for malicious online activity directed toward locations outside of its jurisdiction. "I'm not talking about state-sponsored, or what's happening with the politicians. The dark side of hacking is primarily in Russia and China," Gravrock explained. "Part of it is law enforcement, I don't find many, if any cases where a Russian hacker is sentenced for hacking something in America. It doesn't happen." How can you keep your data safe? Knowledge is power. "It starts with somewhat of an education. It's important for everyone to have a basic 101 of what to do online," Gravrock advised. "What type of emails to click on or not click on, what type of devices to buy. It really starts with being vigilant, strong passwords, the right providers for your hardware. Buy on trustworthy web sites. Do your research."