Businesses are growing more vulnerable to cybercriminals as they store more of their and their customers’ data online. Each year, cybercrime costs the global economy more than one trillion dollars. Given the chaos and instability generated by a global epidemic, it should come as no surprise that cyber attacks surged to record levels in 2020. Cyber attacks can harm a company’s reputation, operations, valuation, and employees in addition to causing financial loss.
Ways Cyber Attacks can Happen
Cybercriminals are interested in gaining access to information and data about your company, employees, and consumers. They could do so by:
- theft or prohibited access of hardware, computers, and mobile devices
- spamming you with emails containing malware
- damaging computers with malware (such as viruses, ransomware, and spyware)
- using your workers or customers to obtain access to your data
- gaining access to your data through employees or customers
- hacking your website or technology
- attacking third party systems
How a Cyber Attack Impacts Your Business
A successful cyber attack can be devastating to your company. It can have an impact on your financial line, as well as your company’s reputation and consumer trust. A security breach can be classified into three types of consequences: financial, reputational, and legal.
Economic Impact
Companies that want to safeguard themselves from internet fraudsters must dig deep into their pockets. Cyber attacks frequently result in significant financial damage as a result of:
- stealing of corporate information
- financial information theft (eg details of a bank account or a credit card)
- theft of funds
- major interruption to operations (eg incapacity to do transactions online)
- business or contract loss
Businesses that have had their systems, networks, or devices hacked will almost always have to pay to repair them.
Damage to Reputation
Customer relationships require a high level of trust. Companies who are victims of larger hacks may see their brand value considerably degraded, albeit this is difficult to quantify. Customers and even suppliers may be wary of entrusting their sensitive data to a company whose IT system has been breached at least once. As a result, there’s a chance it’ll lead to:
- decrease of customers
- sales to decline
- reduction of profits
Reputational harm can have an influence on your suppliers, as well as your relationships with partners, investors, and other stakeholders in your company.
Legal Implications of a Data Breach
Data protection and privacy laws require you to keep track of the security of any personal information you have on your employees or clients. You could face penalties and regulatory punishments if sensitive data is unintentionally or intentionally compromised, and you failed to implement proper security measures.
Bottom Line: Defend Yourself Against Cyber Attacks by Improving Your Cybersecurity
As people increasingly utilize the internet to conduct business, it’s critical to ensure that your company is protected from cyber attacks by implementing effective cybersecurity. Businesses will have to stay one step ahead of cybercrime as it becomes more sophisticated. It is critical that your employees receive regular security awareness training as well as best practices instruction. Infiltration testing should also be done on a regular basis since it allows you to be proactive in finding weak places and addressing them before a breach happens.
Do you need additional assistance with understanding the fundamentals of cyber security for your company? Or do you need assistance with cyber security or projects? Contact Expert IT Solutions right now.
