7 Things All Business Owners Need to Know About the Importance of Data Security

For most business owners, we only think about data security when we hear about a large corporation being hacked into. Sure, it can happen to Experian, but they’re a huge company.

Of course, a hacker would want to breach their data. It doesn’t even occur to us that a hacker would want to hack into our data. But in reality, they do.

The importance of data security is huge now, but in the future, it’s going to be even more important. And if you’re not already taking steps to learn why security is important, you’re already at risk.

We want to help keep your business and your data safe. The risks are too great. With that in mind, keep reading to learn seven reasons why you need to learn why information security is important for your organization.

1. Consider the Importance of Data Security When it Comes to Keeping Your Brand Intact

There are many challenges businesses have in securing data and it can put some businesses off from doing what they should to protect themselves. It seems like every time you put one type of security in place, the hackers are already two steps ahead.

While it’s not always easy to secure your data, some protection is better than none. One incentive to invest in data security is to protect your brand.

If your data is breached, you lose your reputation as a trustworthy company in an instant. All that trust and loyalty you’ve built between your business and your customers are gone.

2. Keeps Your Business From Paying for Unnecessary Expenditures

Fifty-eight data records are stolen every second. Studies show that for each individual breach, the cost is $141 per record. The average cost of a data breach is $7.3 million dollars.

And your business is legally liable for the theft of any information. Scary, isn’t it?

Implementing data security protocols may take time, effort, and cost you money but in the end, it’s far easier and cheaper than any data breach will be. It’s like noticing a leak in your office and waiting until the roof has collapsed to fix it. Fix it now before it’s an issue.

3. Protects You and Your Clients Against Outside Hackers

There are different types of data security but hacking is one of the biggest risks to your business. Hacking happens when someone gains unauthorized access to the private information stored on your computers or network.

Here are the various forms of hacking:

Phishing

Phishing can also come in the form of an email. The hacker acts as an imposter and tries to trick people into entering in confidential information to a fake website or email form.

Malware

Malware is malicious software. It’s also known as a virus. Basically, it’s any type of software that’s used to infect your system so someone can exploit your data.

Malware often comes in the form of unrecognized emails with links or attachments that prompt the reader to click on them, unleashing the virus into your system.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a form of malware and it’s quickly becoming one of the biggest threats for all types of businesses. It’s a virus that holds all your critical information hostage until you pay a fee to get it released.

Password Attacks

Password attacks occur when an automated software runs different combinations of characters until they find the right one that gains them access to a secured site.

Password security is a serious problem which is why all employees should always maintain highly-secured passwords. No longer should the word “password” be an acceptable password.

Denial of Service

A denial of service of DOS attack happens when a website becomes overwhelmed with the data or number of requests until it crashes. At that point, you and your clients lose access to your website until it’s fixed.

4. Ensures Your Employees Can’t Steal Your Company’s Data

U.S. businesses spend $50 billion each year on crimes committed by their own employees.

Sometimes, it’s an internal error that causes accidental loss of sensitive data. Sometimes an employee mistakenly broadcasts that data through email or social media.

Then there are the disgruntled employees who are purposely trying to cause your company harm. And it’s not always easy to protect yourself against employees stealing from you.

One way is to revoke all access immediately upon termination.

5. It’s the Law

While there is no single data security legislation in the United States right now, there are still federal and state laws regarding privacy each business needs to follow.

The biggest law U.S. businesses need to comply with is the right to privacy. Meaning, if you’re breached and your customer’s private information is stolen, you’re the one on the hook.

Make sure you’re in compliance with all federal and state laws.

6. Your Data is an Asset

There’s a big reason why security is important — your data is a huge asset to the future of your business. You can take your raw material from your business data and produce higher quality data end products.

You can integrate and monitor your business using this data. There are three types of data you can use:

Data to Run Your Business

This data is produced by applications you use to run your business. Applications to fill customer orders or manage financial transactions rely on this type of data.

Data to Integrate Your Business

This type of data can be used to help integrate applications that weren’t designed to work with each other.

Data to Monitor Your Business

You can use this data to see how well your business is doing. You can better understand your progress and evaluate cause-and-effect relationships.

7. Prevents Costly Interruption to Your Business

We’ve already discussed how expensive a data breach is to your company. But it’s not just the money that is the problem, you lose a lot of valuable time.

It takes just mere seconds for someone to hack into your security system. It can take several weeks before someone inside your company even notices.

If your site crashes due to security problems, it can take hours for your site to be back up and running. By then, you’ve lost customers.

If that’s not enough, by 2022, 6 billion people will be affected by data security breaches. That’s an estimated 75% of the global population.

Keep Learning

While you can’t fully protect yourself against data breaches, knowing the importance of data security is a good first step. The next step is to implement data security strategies.

Arming yourself with as much knowledge as you can on how to avoid data breaches also makes a huge difference. We can help.

Learn how to implement technology to keep your business safe by visiting our blog.