An FBI special agent says businesses need to be on the lookout for cybercrime.

Supervisory Special Agent Scott Williams told members of the Lawrence Technology Assn. on Wednesday that businesses were more frequently becoming targets of computer crime. The crimes range from theft of intellectual property to viruses aimed at disrupting a company’s entire computer system.

FBI special agent Scott Williams speaks at the Lawrence Technology Assn. luncheon. Williams discussed cybercrime Wednesday at the Hereford House.

“Fifty percent of all crimes the FBI investigates these days involves a computer,” Williams said.

Not all of them involve crimes against businesses, but companies increasingly are becoming targets of hackers. The bureau’s Kansas City, Mo., office, where Williams is based, conducts an annual survey of businesses in the Kansas City metropolitan area, which includes Lawrence, to find out if they have been a victim of cybercrime.

“The survey results show that the losses are becoming larger each year,” Williams said, although he didn’t have specific dollar amounts.

Williams said there were steps businesses could take to protect themselves. The biggest step is to secure their computer systems after they have laid off or fired an employee.

“The first question we ask when we begin an investigation at a business is who have you fired recently,” Williams said. “A large percentage of the time, the company knows the intruder.”

Williams said that means companies must act quickly to change computer passwords and make sure that other employees know the individual no longer has access to the system.

Williams said many times employees of the company unwittingly would help hackers by giving them password information because they do not know the hackers are no longer with the company.

“You just need to have a plan in place and take it seriously,” Williams said. “You have to realize that you are protecting the keys to the kingdom.”

Williams also urged businesses to report cybercrime to the authorities.

He said oftentimes large companies don’t report the incidents because they believe it will hurt their stock price or make them more susceptible to other hackers.

The FBI has set up a group for businesses interested in sharing ways to prevent cybercrime. It’s called Intra Gard and allows business leaders to chat online about cybercrime that has happened to their firms and ways to prevent it.

Anyone interested in joining the group can call (816) 512-8200.