Cyber security is a top-of-mind risk for organizations of all sizes and across all industries. One cyberattack can be detrimental to a business and cost them hefty sums of financial losses. As such, it's important to consider the importance of having proper cyber coverage.
Data and Intellectual Property Loss
Almost every business stores sensitive information. Items like names, addresses and credit card information are all at risk in the event of a data breach.
A data breach can occur as the result of a number of incidents, including hacking, the loss of a laptop and unauthorized employee access. Data breaches can be incredibly costly, and expenses related to forensics, notification costs, public relations, crisis management, and fines and penalties can add up quickly.
What’s more, the theft of intellectual property (IP) is a top concern. If IP is stolen during a data breach, organizations risk losing their competitive advantage.
Further complicating matters is that systems are becoming increasingly connected, and sophisticated spear phishing attacks, mobile device challenges and state-sponsored attacks have each elevated the risk of IP theft.
Employee Negligence
Due to constantly advancing technology and the frequency at which employees are permitted to bring their own devices to work, organizations are increasingly exposed to new and disruptive cyber threats.
Four of the top 10 cyber threats facing organizations can occur as the result of employee negligence. Phishing scams, the abuse of IT systems, errors and omissions, and the insecure use of mobile devices can all occur if employees are improperly trained or wish to do an organization harm.
Additional Risks
In addition to the risks above, there are a number of cyber threats that can negatively impact an organization’s bottom line without warning. The following are some risks to be aware of:
1. Third-party damages. When connecting with customers and vendors online, third-party damages can occur. Third-party damages can take various forms, but often occur when a virus is transmitted to another company or customer. When this happens, your organization could be held liable for any damages.
2. Business interruptions. Manufacturing businesses often require the use of computer systems, and a disaster can halt your ability to transmit data and lead to lost revenue. Time and resources that normally would have gone elsewhere will need to be directed toward the problem, which could result in further losses. This is especially important as denial-of-service attacks by hackers have been on the rise. Such attacks block access to certain websites by either rerouting traffic to a different site or overloading an organization’s server.
Cyber Assessments:
With the increased usage of technology in people’s lives to stay connected while mostly working from home, cybersecurity threats have also become a growing issue and require proper assessments to manage any security gaps and risks that can harm your business.
Therefore, it’s important to conduct proper cyber assessments to mitigate the possibility of having your company’s cybersecurity system breached.
Get a FREE Cyber Risk Assessment to see if you're properly protecting your business from cyber risks:
