Given the rapid rise of digital technologies, businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on internet-connected devices and cloud-based software and services to streamline processes and cut costs.
While these technological advancements have enabled businesses to be more agile, scalable, and efficient than ever before, they’ve also made them vulnerable to cyber threats. In this article, we’ll discuss five reasons why hardening your business’s security protocols are critical.
Recognizing Today’s Cyber Threat Landscape
The threat landscape has evolved dramatically over the past decade. What’s changed? First, the sheer volume of threats has increased significantly. Cybercriminals are leveraging automation tools, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) to launch more sophisticated attacks and steal more data than ever.
Traditionally, cyber threats were concentrated mainly in the U.S., Europe, and the Asia Pacific. But today, threats are more geographically dispersed, so businesses need to be extra vigilant about cyber security. By recognizing the IT security threats your business faces, you can ensure that your business is prepared to deal with them now and in the future.
Data Security and Business Compliance
A severe problem businesses face when combatting cyber security threats is the impact they can have on regulatory compliance standards. For example, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires businesses to protect the personal data of EU citizens or be subjected to hefty fines.
Like most business owners, you may be more concerned about protecting your business from cyber threats than complying with regulations. While these concerns are both valid, they’re related. As businesses become more secure, they’re better able to deal with cyber threats and are less likely to fall into non-compliance issues. This is essential to maintaining customer trust and ensuring that your business thrives in the future.
The Correlation Between Business Security and Revenue Streams
It’s impossible to put an exact dollar amount on the cost of a cyber breach. However, a study that analyzed various security incidents found that companies that experienced a breach lost, on average, over $4 million. If you own your own business, it’s essential to think about the correlation between business security and revenue streams. While it’s challenging to quantify the cost of a breach, it’s worth thinking about the financial impact of a breach on your business.
Outside of the direct financial impact, a breach can cause, there’s also the indirect cost. For example, a breach can hurt your business’ reputation. In fact, according to the Ponemon Institute, a survey of IT and security professionals found that 80% of companies surveyed said they had suffered a negative impact on their reputation after suffering a breach. This correlation makes it critical for business owners to understand the importance of business security and implement the proper security measures to protect their infrastructure.
Steps to Hardening Your Network Security
The best way to protect your business from cyber threats is by hardening your network security.
The first step in hardening your network security is ensuring you have a solid, up-to-date firewall and antivirus software. This will help you detect and prevent malware from entering your system. These tools are a good starting point for protecting your business from cyber threats. However, they won’t be enough to keep out sophisticated hackers. To protect yourself against these advanced hackers, you’ll need to implement additional security measures.
One way to further secure your network is by implementing endpoint protection software to prevent malware from infecting individual computers on the network. This type of protection software works by scanning for malicious code and preventing it from reaching the device. Another way to secure your network is by deploying password protection software and web filtering technology, which blocks users from accessing certain websites or content online. It can be used as a standalone solution or integrated with other security tools that you have in place. This will help ensure that employees only access websites that are relevant and necessary for work purposes.
Strengthening Your Brand Integrity
Your brand’s integrity is your perceived value. It’s what gives your brand its power, and it’s why people continue to support you through thick and thin. Brand integrity is directly linked to the quality of the products or services you provide and how you present yourself to the public. However, that integrity can quickly become compromised if you aren’t taking the right steps to protect it.
In the wake of a security breach, businesses can see a serious dip in their brand integrity. As a result, customers will question the trustworthiness of the company, and they may even lose faith in your business entirely. Once this happens, it isn’t easy to regain the integrity you once had. One way to protect your brand integrity is by implementing security features that will help prevent hacking attempts and other cyber attacks. Taking an active approach to cyber security readiness is the best way to maintain brand integrity, as it shows your customers that you are concerned about the safety of their data and that you are actively taking measures to protect it.
Conclusion
Cyber threats have continued to increase exponentially over the years, and it is crucial for businesses to take a proactive approach to protect their assets and their customers. It is also vital that they can react quickly and effectively when a security breach occurs. By recognizing the importance of cyber security readiness, businesses can minimize their attack surface while building a solid foundation for long-term success.