Step back in time and businesses operated efficiently with separate divisions. Marketing, customer service, technology - they all played their part.
But times have changed, and business integration has become more essential. Each individual department can no longer act on its own.
Technology only used to impact the internal workings of a company. Now the security and information departments can have major repercussions on how customers act and deal with a company. Consider that:
- More than 50 percent of businesses faced backlash after a security breach, with operations and finance systems being the most highly impacted.
- 22 percent of breached organizations lost customers. 40 percent of them lost more than a fifth of their customer base. 29 percent lost revenue.
If your technology isn’t properly regulated, doesn’t have proper security in everything it does, you can pay the ultimate price. A cyberattack that results in exposure or theft of your organization's data is a fireable event. And it might not be the attention of the CEO that kicks things into action; it might be your customers that call you out and ask for action.
Are you in charge of securing the information in your organization? Here are a few things you can do.
- Meet with legal and the management components of your business and prepare for the inevitable. Assume a data breach will occur in the future and create a plan for how to deal with the aftermath.
- Evaluate current cyberattacks in the news and determine the risks they present your organization. What changes could be made to prevent similar actions?
- Evaluate the current level of security you have in place and what security measures you plan on putting into place in the future. How will you combat future threats?
- Discuss strategies with every division in your organization. How can you ensure both employees and customers that you are doing everything you can to protect data?
- Consult with outside sources. Most small and medium-size businesses don’t have the resources to bring on staff with enough knowledge to combat all security threats. Outside resources can help you fill in the gap and ensure you are doing everything possible to keep your organization safe and secure.
Data breaches are real, and odds are you will face them within your business at some point in the future. The only question is: are you preparing?
For IT Strategy, Cloud Conversion, or Help Desk Services reach out to us at Silver Linings Technology 360-450-4759.
