With the continuous advancement of modern technology, one cannot deny how it has significantly improved our lives, and businesses are not an exception to it. From optimizing efficiency and productivity of day-to-day operations, technology has paved the way to make the exchange of information easy and convenient, enabling smoother and faster transactions with clients.
However, as much as technology brings advantages to your business, it has a string of disadvantages too. Technology may be progressive, but it poses certain risks that may potentially hurt your growing business. Cyber-attacks are one of them.
If you own a small business, having a robust cybersecurity system can be a good defense against the rampant cyber-attacks on the rise every day. Surprisingly, it is believed that hackers tend to target small and medium-size businesses more compared to large corporations. One of the reasons for this is that most small businesses have not yet established a cybersecurity infrastructure for their business. Or if they do, it’s not as intensive as what large enterprises have.
Here are a few reasons why being cybersecurity compliant is important for your small business.
- Regulatory Measures And Non-Compliance Repercussions
As threats against data privacy continue to be a concern among consumers, authorities have enacted relevant regulations to ensure that certain cyber standards are adhered to. This not only aims to protect the consumers but the business owners as well.
With that said, non-compliance can lead to fines and penalties, or even legal action, coming from consumers, business associates, or investors whose data and records were affected by the cyber-attack. On top of that, if you are looking into collaborating with the government, it would be impossible to get into it, if you can’t provide a cybersecurity certification.
Educating yourself with cybersecurity laws implemented in your state or country can go a long way. It can save you time, resources, and the trouble of dealing with non-compliance repercussions.
- To Protect Business Reputation
Business thrives from the position of trust and loyalty from your customers. Nobody likes to deal and connect with a business that has no sufficient data protection system. Therefore, to appeal to your customers and business stakeholders, you need to implement a reliable security system and be transparent about your security protocols.
It’d be good to note that consumers are now becoming increasingly aware of the type of information they share with businesses and their rights when it comes to their personal data. With that said, keeping your consumers’ data safe and secure should be your priority, as business owners.
For instance, if you lack secured online payment methods on your website, chances are your consumers will grow hesitant in purchasing your products. They wouldn’t risk giving their information if they don’t have the assurance that their data will be protected. This can significantly affect your sales and revenue.
Moreover, consumers are also becoming more vocal, in terms of reviews and feedbacks. If there’s evidence that your site is unsecured, not only can you lose your sales but it can hurt your business’s reputation as well.
- Growing Cyberattack Concerns
If you own a business in the healthcare, retail, and financial sector, your business might be at more risk compared to other types of businesses, all because of the nature of information you hold. With the advent of the internet of things (IoT), your business is highly at risk, as your customers use their mobile devices to access your site. In addition to that, some of your customers might be using unsecured public internet that might further put your business at risk.
The more visitors you have on your website, the more chances of experiencing a cyberattack. With that said, the only way to protect your business data against this threat would be to institute stringent cybersecurity measures from your end.
- To Ensure Confidentiality of Business Data
While it is less common, cyberattacks can be internal too. Data leaks can be due to an employee- either on purpose or accidentally. Whichever the case is, access to sensitive data within your company should be only limited to employees who need them. If an employee doesn’t need particular information to do their daily work, your IT infrastructure should restrict them from gaining access to it.
For instance, someone in the marketing department might not be in need of financial details concerning your esteemed clients. Based on their role, the only information they may need could be a phone number, email address, physical address, and any other information that they may need to reach out to your clients during your marketing campaigns. Therefore, you can limit information access to a departmental level or to employee level, depending on what is most appropriate.
One strategy that you can use to limit data access is the use of a password policy. For instance, if you have systems such as a customer relationship management system (CRM) or a financial management system (FMS), it should be configured to ask for passwords before one can get access. In addition, it can also be configured to prevent saving passwords in the system.
You can also automate your infrastructure to track processes within your system to know who accessed certain information, the time, and how it was transferred.
Availability Of Cheaper Cyber-Security Solutions
In the modern age of technology, it’s possible to have your small enterprise entirely secured with a fraction cost that is considered lower compared to years back. What you need to do is to engage the services of a reputable IT consulting agency. Outsourcing your IT functions, especially ones geared towards cybersecurity, can be cheaper as compared to hiring and utilizing an in-house team of experts and purchasing your own equipment.
In addition to that, working with an IT consulting firm can give you access to competitive security systems that can help boost your infrastructure.
Opting for this kind of arrangement does not only help your small business to be properly secured but can help you save on operation costs and resources as well.
Conclusion
Investing in competitive cybersecurity might be a tall order for small businesses, mainly due to the financial expenses involved. However, it’s a worthy investment that can help protect your business against cyber threats. Being secure online is the best security that your business can have. Some attacks have the potential of shattering your business existence completely. Thus, it’s better to undertake prevention steps than to deal with an attack and its aftermath.
