Last Updated on Mar 31, 2020 by James W
It’s important that you keep technology security in your office as strong as you possibly can. Any business owners know this, but even the ones who know it may be slacking when it comes to implementation.
The problem is that weak security can turn out to be a terrible business decision. There are several ways in which such a problem can come back around and bite you in the wallet, hard. Here are some of the most common ways in which poor security can result in high costs for your business.
Fraud committed with employee data
Employees will have plenty of personal information stored in your databases. They may even have credit card details stored somewhere in your system. This is one of the reasons you should try to encourage employees to abstain from making personal purchases at work.
If a cybercriminal manages to get hold of any of this information, they could commit fraud that would lose your employees money. Of course, there is also the fact that such an outcome may result in employees taking legal action against you.
Costs of recovery and repairs
If your security measures aren’t great, then something disastrous could happen to your equipment. And if you want to use it again, you’ll have to look into replacements, repairs or recovery. It’s unlikely that’s all going to come for free!
Such recovery isn’t always difficult and expensive. IT companies like Continuous Networks can help you a lot in this area. But it might be better to work with such a company before something happens. This helps you get your security appropriately strengthened in the first place. Prevention is better than cure, after all!
Legal action taken against you
The protection of customer data is one of the most important aspects of modern businesses. The law makes it clear that allowing this data to get into the wrong hands is going to get your company into a lot of trouble.
If you’ve allowed customer data to get leaked, then those customers are well within their rights to bring legal action against you. I’m sure “get sued for shocking amounts of money by hundreds of understandably angry customers??? isn’t in your business plan. Make sure it doesn’t happen!
Competitors gaining the upper hand
Data has become one of the most talked-about tools when it comes to building a successful business. Companies that help other companies collect customer data are wildly successful because of it. All that customer data you have needs to be protected for the safety of the customer, first and foremost. But the less talked-about risk of such data theft is that it allows your competitors to see data which was giving you the competitive edge!
There’s also the matter of your business plans to think about. Let’s say you have a plan for an amazing new product. It’s in its very early stages, but the documentation you have makes your designs clear. If this is all leaked due to a security breach, then you lost that publicity-gaining element of surprise. Your competitors are also given a chance to prepare counterplans!
