We agree that there is a lot that a website does that is central to the overall success of the business. Thus, it goes without saying that most business owners would not want to lose that asset. However, a data breach is far more impactful than just losing your website as a marketing engine and a cog in the internal workings of the business. There are direct impacts of the data breach and indirect impacts as well.
Costs of a Data Hack:
The direct costs of a data hack can be a regulatory fine—and it can be pretty steep. More importantly, there are other costs that come immediately.
First things first, the company has to stop whatever it is doing and turn its attention to identifying whose data has been compromised, how to retrieve it (if they can) and an aggressive public relations campaign.
After (and if) the data can be pulled back, the company then turns its attention to resetting its data defenses. This requires an exhaustive research on the firms own data architecture. While the discovery takes a while, the technology changes to the architecture that were the cause of the breach also take a long time and a lot of effort and capital. All of this comes at the cost of the business priorities the company was already working towards.
Indirect Costs of a Data Breach:
While companies spend millions of dollars and countless time and effort on a data breach, the more-lasting damage is often the damage to the brand. Many customers see a data breach as a breach of their trust. No matter how well a company cleans up a data breach, they will lose a segment of their customer base indefinitely.
Perhaps the most-stirring part of a data breach is to think through all of the customer, partner, or employee information you may have lost in the process. Without a backup, all of the information about a customer’s history with your organization could be gone forever.
It’s also worth considering that if there was a data breach and you are a company that is in the business of secret information, perhaps about your product, your partnerships, or your customers—with that data out there, how much will that hurt your business?
Once you have been hacked, some of your partners may want to rethink a partnership with you—which could be damaging for a long time.
Are you concerned that your company may not be securing its customer, partner, and employee data effectively?
If you are ready to explore how a secure website can allow your organization to focus on its growth, contact Freelock to understand how your website can drive your business forward.