Craig Dilger for The New York Times

Today's Question What small-business owners think.

In 2009, hackers broke into a corporate bank account owned by Mark Patterson’s construction company, Patco, and stole $588,000. Like most small-business owners, Mr. Patterson was surprised to learn that protections on personal bank accounts do not apply to business accounts.

In a small-business guide we’ve just published, Pamela Ryckman reports on how vulnerable most small businesses are and what they can do to protect themselves. For example, one computer security specialist says that the most effective thing a business can do is to set aside one dedicated computer used solely for online banking; employees should never send e-mail or browse the Web from this machine.

Please read the story and tell us if you have had any experience with this type of fraud and what you have done to prepare your business.