Data breaches are becoming more common than ever. The International Association of Privacy Professionals reports that there were 1,862 data breaches in 2021 alone. This figure is growing by the year.
Organizations must make data security a top priority. Those that do not risk bankruptcy, as the costs of data breaches are horrifying.
Rising Data Breaches Have Made Greater Data Security a Necessity
Data is often dubbed as a digital gold in the modern era. No organization or business can function without processing relevant data. Additionally, in many countries, corporations are legally obliged to maintain certain data security standards to ensure that their employees’ and consumers’ data are safe.
Additionally, when we classify the data that these corporations hold, we find that some of them are so sensitive that they are central to the operation. Therefore, data security has become the need of the hour. With the evolution of digital technology, cybercrime has also evolved.
Hackers have advanced tools and equipment to get into the company servers and extract crucial information. Such information is openly traded in the black market leading to a huge loss of profit. In this article, we will try to decipher the reasons behind organizations’ newfound obsession with data security.
Cyber-attacks are no joke
How serious are data breaches? They are so serious that one out of every eight companies will be shut down by a data breach.
A cyber-attack can hurt your company’s image in the market. Today, it is crucial for businesses to have an online presence, which means they collect tons of consumer data. Therefore, loss of data due to a cyber-attack would mean that your company does not value its consumers’ privacy and does not implement the necessary steps to ensure data protection.
Usually, we find that the majority of cyber-attack victims are small businesses that are complacent with their data security measures. Small companies tend to think they are not under the radar, so they can’t be the target of cybercrimes, which is not true. Cybercriminals attack small corporations because it is easier to gain access to all the sensitive information.
Moreover, it is hard for such businesses to recover from the financial loss due to cyber-attacks. However, we are not implying here that large corporations with enough funds at their disposal are safe. Even if you have a cushion in place to recover from financial loss due to cyberattacks, why waste your resources? Also, we cannot forget the social implications of a data breach in the modern world.
Data is a crucial company asset
As stated earlier, data is the digital gold in the modern era. Your business’s success or failure depends on your collection and processing of relevant data. Companies use data to develop their marketing and pricing models and gain access to a larger consumer base. As the threat of data breaches grows, companies must raise the bar with their data security measures.
Moreover, companies that interact with consumers directly rely on their data to provide them with better services and products. Additionally, a lot of sensitive business information is exchanged digitally.
Such information includes financial data, quarterly reports, upcoming business strategies, marketing strategies, etc. A well-established corporation would not want such data to fall into the hands of its competitors. A leak of such data could result in irreparable losses.
Other crucial company information includes risk mitigation procedures, revenue optimization, etc. Needless to say, a company relies on such data for its present and future performance. Therefore, it is safe to say that data is a crucial company asset.
To avoid unnecessary expenditures
A company’s success is based on the principle of profit maximization. So, it is the goal of every business to improve the margin on their products and services. Margin expansion is not always done by selling more goods and services and market infiltration.
A business also needs to bring down its operations costs to improve the annual net profits. Data loss could cost a company a fortune, especially when we focus on the fact that data loss will hurt the company’s image.
Employee and consumer confidential information is the responsibility of the company. Any loss of such data to stunt the growth of an organization in the future. Therefore, it is crucial to invest in robust data security posture management solutions.
Hackers are one step ahead of you
Many companies hire a dedicated cyber security team to ensure that they align with government regulations and compliances. However, it has been observed that cyber security teams are often helpless if they do not have proper infrastructural support.
Today, hackers have automated the attack mechanisms. They use bots to constantly attack a system. These bots gain access to the system the moment the cyber security team falls short of action.
Also, the bots are also used to create a diversion so that access to other sensitive information could be gained. Seeing how the hackers have evolved with the technology, it is only fitting to invest in data security solutions irrespective of the size of the company.
The company’s reputation is at stake
We have constantly emphasized the importance of company image. When a consumer interacts with an organization’s portal, he furnishes sensitive information such as personal and financial details. That is to say — the consumer trusts the corporations to take good care of his data. This trust is important if an organization wants to have a stable business. Now, a reputable organization would not sell its consumers’ data for some short-term gain.
However, a data leak is bound to put the company into the spotlight, which is not good for its reputation. A data breach has the potential to adversely affect a company’s future. We cannot assign a monetary value to a reputation that takes years to build. Therefore, it is crucial to have a proper data security solution in place.
Data integrity is important
Data integrity refers to the originality of data. If data is compromised, it can lead to some variations from the original, which is not good for business operations.
Data security solutions ensure the consolidation of data on a centralized server, which ensures proper protection and easy accessibility.