Recent well-publicized breaches of personal client data have brought some uncomfortable yet much-needed attention to the vulnerability and protection of information. Every business is obligated to keep their customers’ sensitive data secure; protecting both your and your clients’ information is not optional. Even for small businesses; it’s not just large corporations that are affected by data breaches. According to Timothy Francis, enterprise lead for Cyber insurance, 62 percent of cyber-breach victims are small to mid-size businesses, which are at the greatest risk for an attack.
The security of your company’s data is not something to put off until next week, next month, or next year. The damage caused by breaches of data security can be severe. Client relationships that took so much time and effort to build can be destroyed by a lack of trust. In many industries, data breaches result in heavy fines. Not to mention the daunting prospect of recreating all of your lost data from scratch. Additionally, smart customers refuse to do business with companies who can’t prove they take the necessary precautions to secure the sensitive information they are entrusted with.
The changing culture of how and where we do business only adds to the problem. With so much business now being conducted on mobile devices, the risks are greater than ever. In addition to personal computers in the office, the protection of smartphones and tablets must also be included in security plans. According to a nationwide survey of 2,000 office workers carried out for enterprise content collaboration specialist Huddle by Ipsos Mori, 52 percent of office workers admitted to storing, sharing, and working on work documents through their personal smartphones, tablets, and notebooks. And advancements in technology have only increased the threats—danger today comes in many forms, from malware, to hacking, to malicious employees, to leveraged social tactics such as phishing.
Don’t wait until your business has been hacked. Be proactive about the security of your data and reduce your exposure to risk. Ask us how we can help your company minimize risks to the security and integrity of your data.
