Letting Security Go Can Cost You Big Time

Letting Security Go Can Cost You Big Time!

One of the fastest growing threats to your business may be lurking right under your nose. The worst part is that if you’re like most business owners, you’re not prepared to deal with it. The threat? Data security. Data breaches are occurring more frequently. There is a 12% year-to-year increase in security events, and it seems we hear about new data breaches everyday.

How can a data leak affect your business?

Damage to reputation/brand If your company is the victim of a cyberattack, it can cost you much more than money. Imagine all the trust and goodwill you spent years building between your company and your suppliers, customers, and employees vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Lost revenue Revenue from lost customers and fewer sales due to declining customer loyalty is typical following a serious security incident. You may be responsible for reimbursement to customers. In fact, if one employee loses a laptop, you’ll feel the pain. According to a Ponemon Institute study, the average value of a lost laptop is an astonishing $49,246.

Potential liability in response to the rash of major data breaches lawmakers are scrambling to put stronger measures in place to protect consumers. If you fail to safeguard sensitive information you could put yourself at risk for expensive lawsuits.

Lost productivity data breaches and other security incidents cause serious losses in productivity. Consider some of the fallout from a data breach. There’s downtime. You may also have to recreate lost data from scratch, engage in PR activities, contact individuals affected by the breach, go through litigation, and many other time-consuming activities that will distract you from your main focus.

You may wonder why more business owners aren’t doing something about data security if it poses such a big threat. So, Why aren’t business owners doing more?

There are three key reasons that businesses aren’t prepared for the costly effects of a data breach.

Lack of knowledge If you don’t know there’s a looming disaster, you can’t prepare for one. Many business owners that are aware of the data breach epidemic don’t know what to do about it so, they do nothing. Business owner’s should get up to speed on the things to do to minimize your risk for data breach.

No plan to protect data 83% of small business owners surveyed by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Symantec have no formal cyber security plan. According to the same study, 59% don’t have “a contingency plan outlining procedures for responding and reporting data breach losses.

Lack of resources The average small business owner has nowhere near the resources that large companies have at their disposal to secure their sensitive information. Typically, small businesses lack security awareness, technical expertise, and budget. Nonetheless, there is help available for data security for small businesses.

If you want to protect your business, you will have to invest some time and effort to secure your business but you owe it to yourself to get started today. Learn more about safeguards for data security, contact us today!

This Security Tip is brought to you by BlackBox Connections. 

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