Why is privacy important to your business?
Your business has as much as a 25% chance of experiencing a data breach. That’s according to a report by IBM released in 2017. The best course of action is to assume your business will experience a data breach. At the very least, you must assume that you’ll be attacked in some fashion.
Here are five reasons to take business data protection seriously:
1. The Threat is Constant
Today, it’s almost impossible to completely avoid hackers. The Hollywood version of a hacker sitting in a dark room trying to guess a password is inaccurate. Hackers have an advanced arsenal of malware, automation, and social engineering tools at their disposal.
Automated bots crawl the web every day looking for vulnerabilities in websites. Phishing scams are constant. Chances are, your email provider has filtered out numerous possible phishing emails this month alone. Create a “Zero Trust” culture at your business to stay protected.
2. Data Breaches Are More Expensive Than Ever
Data breaches can cost businesses millions of dollars. Large companies can sometimes absorb these expenses but it damages their reputation and puts clients sensitive information at risk. For smaller businesses, a data breach can lead to business failure.
Malware, like ransomware, can lock your data until you pay a large fee. Other data breaches could lead to a loss of customers or disruptions to your operations.
3. Hackers are Getting Smarter
81% of all data breaches exploit privileged access to data. That means hackers find a way into your system by gaining one of your employee’s credentials. There are indirect ways hackers can gain this information. If one of your employees uses the same login information for all their personal and professional accounts, a data breach elsewhere could compromise your own system.
It’s common for scammers to trick people to open emails and click on malicious links. All they’d need to do is find someone from your leadership team on LinkedIn, create a phony email profile, then email one of your employees posing as their boss.
4. Data Is Important to Your Business
Data helps you optimize your operations and maintain accurate records. It can also help you serve customers more effectively. Data gives you a competitive advantage. And it’s a necessary tool in today’s business environment. But not all data is useful. Some of it gets old or becomes obsolete.
Delete obsolete data periodically to protect your business. If you have printed records that are no longer useful, you should shred and dispose of them offsite.
5. Your Reputation Depends on Data Security
If you’ve followed any of the high-profile data breaches in the news, you know this already. A data breach can do long-term damage to your company’s reputation. This is especially true when customer data is involved. If you keep customer data, your customers are trusting you to keep it safe. They also trust you to dispose of it safely when you no longer need it.
Why Is Privacy Important to Your Business?
If you have a small business, you may be asking yourself, “Why is privacy important?” Don’t assume you’re safe from hackers because you aren’t a global enterprise. Take steps now to implement business data protection across your company now.
Do you have a business in the Fort Wayne area of Indiana? Federal Records Management & Shredding can help you keep all your records safe. Contact us today to learn what you can do to protect your data and destroy records responsibly.
