With cyberattacks on the rise, there has never been a better time to educate yourself about security breaches. Cyber criminals have developed new malicious tactics, and small and mid-size businesses are just as much at risk as big-name companies. Unfortunately, plenty of businesses are content to ignore security breaches – but you really can’t afford to.      

Here’s what you need to know about data breaches, and how to protect yourself:   

The Numbers Behind Data Breaches    

The numbers speak for themselves. The average data breach, according to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., costs UK companies £4.56 million. Part of the reason for the huge cost is that a data or privacy breach can be difficult to detect if you’re not looking for them. In fact, companies take an average of 228 days or more to identify a security breach. Think about the amount of damage hackers can inflict on your business in that amount of time.     

This isn’t just an enterprise-level issue, however. Small businesses account for  58% of data breach victims, and they often lack the resources of an enterprise company to combat an attack. Every company, no matter how big or small, needs to take the danger of data breaches seriously.       

Why Are You a Target?    

You may think you have nothing of value, but think about the data you store every day:    

• Employees’ birthdates and other personal information    
• Client names, email addresses and phone numbers    
• Banking information, including account numbers    
• Passwords that could potentially unlock numerous accounts     

All this data is highly valuable to cybercriminals, and you need to store it securely to conduct your business. But with that data comes the responsibility to protect it properly.     

Why Businesses Ignore Security Breaches    

If breaches are so common and have such significant consequences, why do so many businesses choose to ignore them? There are a couple of reasons for this.     

One is the lack of immediate financial impact. Even when a business owner realises that data is missing, money hasn’t always been directly stolen from the company. Some owners think sweeping these minor losses under the rug is best to avoid damage to reputation and trust.   

Businesses without a defined response strategy may not think they have the time or resources to react, so the problem falls below other priorities and is ultimately overlooked. Some companies may even ignore a data breach due to fear of backlash or confusion about their responsibility to notify customers.    

The Danger of Ignoring a Security Breach  

Of course, ignoring issues doesn’t make them go away. In fact, the dangers of ignoring a data breach are immense. Some of the consequences of a breach are:    

• Lost business. By giving you their personal information, consumers are implicitly expressing trust in your business. If you betray that trust by failing to take every precaution, it can be extremely hard to win back.    
• Stolen or lost records. A data breach can result in lost or stolen data, or your employees could be completely blocked from accessing data, as in the case of a ransomware attack. Any of these outcomes means major costs, both in downtime and recovering or replacing any lost data.    
• Noncompliance and legal action. Failing to meet the data privacy standards in your industry can result in steep noncompliance fines. Customers whose data was exposed in a breach may also pursue legal action against your company, especially if you fail to notify them in a timely manner.    
• Lost Revenue. Outside of the obvious costs that are associated with payment of a ransom, there are various other detrimental factors to a breach. Businesses lose profits due to excessive operational downtime, noncompliance and legal fee, loss of customers and lower productivity from loss of critical data.  

How We Can Help   

Data breaches can be scary, but they don’t have to be inevitable. The team here protects your business with a comprehensive suite of security solutions to block or contain even sophisticated cyberattacks. Plus, we educate you and your employees on ways to minimise the chances of a breach. Contact us today to learn how we can help bring back peace of mind and keep costly breaches away from your business.  

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