4 ways a data breach could cost your company (and how to stop them)

Did you know that there’s a new data security threat waiting around every corner? The Internet can often lull you into a false sense of security, especially when you feel as though you’re taking all the necessary steps to protect your data. But even as your security strengthens, so do the capabilities of those who can pose data breaches. At Stetson Cybersecurity, we’re here to show you how a data breach can cost your company and the ways you can stop one happening.

Ransomware bringing a halt to your activities

Cast your mind back to May 2017 and reflect on the WannaCry ransomware attack. As a cyberattack that held data hostage, it affected 230,000 computers worldwide. The attack was so powerful that it brought a significant proportion of the UK’s National Health Service to an IT standstill. The result? A lost of £92-million and 19,000 canceled appointments.

When it comes to data breaches, your mind may not always jump to someone holding your data hostage. If you consider how well your company would manage without it, you’ll soon see why preventing such attacks is essential. One way to guard yourself against ransomware is to create an accessible backup of your data. Additionally, you should make sure your employees benefit from strict guidance on spotting and avoiding phishing scams.

A loss of business thanks to human error

We all know that humans are far from perfect. For every excellent IT strategy that’s in place to protect your business, there’s a human or two waiting to (inadvertently) make a mistake. Unfortunately, even misguided human errors cost small- to medium-sized businesses around $21,000 in lost business when they occur.

If you want to prevent human error from causing a business loss catastrophe, it’s time to use your employees as the first line of defense against data breaches. With the right cybersecurity training, your workers will become an unbeatable taskforce who help to prevent data breaches from happening. As a result, you’ll retain your hard-earned business and avoid loss of profit.

Significant reputational damage following a data breach

In an age of the Internet, many of your customers or clients may verge on taking security for granted. When they hand their information over to you, they do so with the assumption that you’re keeping it safe. Although their sense of trust isn’t intentional, once you breach it, it’s difficult to recover.

Losing your clients’ data en-masse is likely to deter them from using your business. Additionally, if they spread the word to others, the reputational damage you encounter is difficult to pull back from. An effective way to prevent this reputational damage from occurring is through using incident response techniques. Incident response keeps data safe and gathers evidence if a breach occurs. As a result, if your security systems do fail, pulling back from a breach will become easier.

You may face a data breach penalty

Data breach penalties can soon reach astronomical figures. The transport network app Uber found this out the hard way when it paid hackers to release data and then faced a $148-million fine for their actions.

Although you’re unlikely to face fines that reach hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars, you could still encounter one that’s proportionate to your business’s income. To strengthen your business’s resolve against significant data breaches, use penetration testing. Penetration testing will identify how robust your security systems are and if it detects flaws it will help you develop strategies for strengthening your security. A firm approach to security doesn’t just limit your chances of a data breach; it helps you to avoid fines.

At Stetson, we’re here to help you fight back against data breaches. To discuss your business’s cybersecurity, contact us.