If you run your business online, you know that you face very real cybersecurity threats. You've read the news stories about the Sony hack. You've learned that people who have taken years to build up their careers can lose it all because of a poorly worded email. Despite all of their hard work in climbing to the top, they fell.
Now certainly there were some employee emails that warranted firing. Some didn't quite seem to understand that holding such a high position required a sense of professionalism. And with their unprofessionalism hitting the American social mainstream, they resigned in disgrace. It would later be learned that cybercriminals from North Korea were responsible for Sony's security breach. There was a public outcry, and Sony had to reconfigure their staff and business dealings to satisfy consumers.
If you are hit with a data breach, will your business be able to ride the wave of criticism and consumer fury? Protect yourself and your company with a cyber policy.
The Numbers of a Data Breach
In an interview with a British insurance firm, Fortune Magazine unveiled that cyber-attacks worldwide cost businesses $400 billion in damages every year. It's not only big businesses like Sony that are getting attacked, it's your small business, too. In nearly half of all cybersecurity breaches worldwide, 43 percent of the attacks were on small businesses. What can happen if your business becomes a target?
Repercussions of a Data Breach
Though each individual cyber-attack is different in its data breach, (some being worse than others) your company will still lose face with the public. According to the Forbes Insights Report Fallout: The Reputational Impact of IT Risk, 46 percent of businesses that had experienced a cyber-attack said their brand value and reputation suffered significant damage.
In 2013, Target was the victim of a cybersecurity breach. It was reported that the breach could involve the release of millions of customer credit and debit card numbers, ripe for the picking. With customer information compromised, Target was forced to pay $10 million in a settlement resulting from a class-action lawsuit connected to 2013's data breach.
As a result of the Target data breach, the retail giant had to pay an additional $162 million to update their cybersecurity and get the company back on track. Despite catching the hack in 12 days (TechCrunch reports that on average it takes a company 200 days to learn their security has been breached) the company asked CEO Gregg Steinhafel and other higher-ups to step down. After the attack, Target lost customers and their shares dropped. In the wake of the Target security breach, once-loyal customers began making purchases with the company's competitors, Amazon and Walmart.
Being a large corporation, Target has the manpower and funds to climb up out of the rubble and start fresh. The question here is: does your small business?
If you're planning to run a successful business, you need cybersecurity. Head to CyberPolicy.com today to get a quote.
