Know how cybercriminals can hurt your business.
It is important to understand the impact a cyber-attack can have on your business. From damaging your business reputation to costing your business a lot of money, cybercriminals cause a lot of heart-ache for companies. If you educate yourself with the different ways these criminals can impact your business and stay ahead of their tactics to breach your data though, you will be well prepared to handle any cybercrimes they may throw your way.
Do you understand the impact of cybercrime on society? What about the effect of cybercrime related to business operations? The impact of cybercrime on business can be detrimental and even destroy lives. While data breaches have been around for as long as companies have been keeping records, they have recently gotten more sophisticated and cybercriminals have begun to use more advanced processes to steal data from companies or hold their data hostage in attempts to receive a huge payout.
Every year, the number of businesses affected by cybercrime grows and while this is partially due to the fact that there are more and more businesses every year, it is also due to the fact that cybercriminals are becoming smarter with their malicious ways and companies cannot keep up. The best way to stay ahead of these criminals is to stay up-to-date with the latest cybercrimes that could affect your business and to keep your technology current. Also, understanding the impact of cybercrime in business and on society will give you the motivation you need to protect your data and assets as best you can.
Ways Cybercrime Impacts Businesses
Damaged Reputation
A major way cybercrime could impact your business is by damaging your company’s reputation which is counterproductive to building your brand. It is important to remember that information we put on the web stays there forever and it is very possible that any online accounts we have will be hacked and our personal information put on display for all the world to see. It is important to think about this when considering the proper way to protect your customer and company data from cybercriminals. From a global survey, the lasting impact of a data breach on customers is so significant that 95% of participants would be willing to seek legal action against a company that didn’t properly protect their information. The survey also revealed that almost all customers that found out a company they were using had a massive customer data breach would be willing to break all ties with that company. A data breach is detrimental to your company because it not only destroys customer trust, but it also causes the public to perceive your company as ill-equipped and easily hacked.
Intellectual Property Damage
The impact of cybercrime on your business is not only potentially damaging to your reputation but it could also be damaging to your intellectual property. If your business were to experience a cyber-attack that stole company ideas, marketing campaigns or business expansion plans, your business would lose the competitive edge it once had over other businesses in your market. A cybercriminal stealing these ideas and plans could easily expose them to your competitors, making these ideas useless, costing your business months or even years of valuable work. Not only would exposing these ideas cost your employees the amount of time they put into them, but it would also damage any business growth and revenue gains you would have experienced if your data was not breached.
Most Common Cybercrimes Against Businesses
When thinking about the security of your company’s data and assets, it’s not enough to just think about the impact a cybercriminal could have on your company’s reputation and business goals, but it’s also important, if not more important, to know the different kinds of attacks you need your security to protect your business against. Here are six of the most common cybercrimes against businesses:
- Computer System Attacks
- Malware (Viruses, Spyware, Bots)
- Phishing
- Identity Theft
- Social Engineering
- Web-Based & DoS Attacks (Denial-of-Service)
Educating yourself about these common cybercrimes will better prepare you for the possible security threats your company may face.
