As a business owner or manager, you have likely heard about a variety of cybersecurity threats, but you may not be aware of what is actually at risk. When cybersecurity breaches occur, your business can lose data, profit, and more. To help you understand why your business needs to take the appropriate network security measures, we’ve put together a list of the top five ways that cybercrime can impact businesses of all sizes.
1 – Lost Data
Your business records, employee data, or client information can all be accessed, used inappropriately, destroyed, or even blocked from access after a cyberattack. For many modern businesses, this digital data IS your company. For your company, losing access to or actually losing information translates into the other losses associated with cybersecurity breaches as outlined in this blog.
2 – Lost Income
Loss of income can be a direct result of a hack. In these situations, the cybersecurity breach occurs for the express purpose of redirecting electronic funds from your clients to the hacker or another account. Often, lost income is less direct. It occurs as a result of the stolen information, denied access to your files or software, the need to close down the office while you’re addressing the breach, or a loss of customers.
3 – Added Expenses
In addition to lost income, recovering from a breach actually costs money. After a breach, your business is already taking a hit with less money coming in, and then, you have to start paying to repair and enhance your cybersecurity measures. Added expenses can come from the need for new equipment, repairs to existing equipment, additional network security software, and even lawsuits from clients, vendors, employees, and others who are impacted by the security breach.
Additionally, some hackers directly extort money from businesses, using ransomware. Ransomware is a type of cyberattack that places a pay wall between you and your business data. In order to get access to this information, you have to pay the hacker. Unfortunately, even paying the ransom doesn’t guarantee your business will get its data back, and it leaves you exposed to other hackers.
4 – Lost Clients
Most states require businesses to notify their clients, vendors, employees, and anyone who could be impacted that a breach has occurred. In some cases, this will result in clients taking their business elsewhere, and potentially, make it difficult to get new clients since information about the security breach may be accessible by others.
5 – Damaged Reputation
Even if your state doesn’t require you to notify involved parties about the security breach, it may actually be the right option. If the story gets out some other way, your business will look like it tried to hide the breach from the clients, vendors, and employees, which is not a good look. When you are in control of releasing the information, you can repair some of the damage to your reputation right away by explaining how quickly you discovered the breach, how you repaired the problem, and what steps you’re taking to prevent future cyberattacks. If you wait and someone else reveals this information, your damaged reputation may be beyond repair.
Beef Up Cybersecurity with IT ArchiTeks
If you’re interested in building a cybersecurity plan that reduces your business’ risk and ensures you have the resources to rebuild after a security breach, we hope you’ll call IT ArchiTeks. Our knowledgeable team will partner with you to create a network security plan that makes sense for your business. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or to schedule a consultation with one of the members of our sales team.
