For businesses, the digital age, mediated by internet connectivity, is a valuable advantage that facilitates productivity and profitability. Digitization of business’s operations, however, comes with major downfalls; one of which is the increasing trend of cyber insecurity and cyber threats. The benefits of investing in corporate digitization far outweigh the risks that businesses face thereof. This is because the risks can be effectively mitigated by investing in cybersecurity measures. Here are four key reasons as to why businesses need to invest in cybersecurity today.
Increase the threshold of cyber threats
Cybercrime is on the significant rise in the past decade. On average, about 70 percent of companies in the world today have, in the past, been exposed to some form of cyber-attacks. An evaluation shows that most cyber-attacks are orchestrated against small businesses in the healthcare and financial sectors. This points to an alarming trend and should prompt every business to consider investing in cybersecurity as a preventive measure.
Compliance to the law
Governments across the globe are increasingly responding to cyber threats by creating policies which demand businesses to invest in cybersecurity. All businesses handling customers’ data are required by the law, especially across the US and UK, to put in place mechanisms to prevent illegal access and malicious use of such data. Investing in cybersecurity will, therefore, be acting in compliance with the law.
Prevent financial losses
In the cybercrime world, sensitive business and customer data are worth billions of dollars. Hackers orchestrate siphoning out of sensitive data which they use for malicious purposes, such as siphoning of funds from bank accounts. Such infiltration can lead to lawsuits which are often settled by payment of hefty fines. Besides, sometimes, criminals may mess up a business’s financial data, thus making the business to lose its data integrity. If such data touches on a crucial financial aspect such as invoices, then the business will be in for a major financial loss.
Safeguarding reputation
Businesses need to safeguard their reputation by investing in cybersecurity. The last thing that customers want to hear is that a business they associate with has been cyber-attacked and that their data is vulnerable out there. Such an instance causes customers to shy away from dealing with a company. 49 percent of all cybercrimes orchestrated against businesses lead to reputational damage, thereby significantly interrupting business processes.