When you’re running a business, it may feel like you’re trying to juggle a lot of balls without enough hands. There are so many areas of responsibility that it can be tempting to let a few things fall through the cracks. One area that many businesses still neglect is network security. After all, if your computers are running well, it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking there won’t be any problems. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and you may have a lot of other wheels squeaking around the office.
Unfortunately, failing to properly secure your network can backfire in a major way. If you experience a security breach, it can negatively impact your business in the following ways:
- Loss of data. If you lose important data, this can slow down or completely bring your daily operations to a standstill. Both your employees and customers will suffer from your lack of productivity while you scramble to recover the information you’ve lost.
- Loss of operating time. It takes time to repair this sort of damage, and in the meantime your business operations will be backed up. This causes immense damage to your business.
- Money. Repairing the breach, paying employees overtime to catch up on work, and making amends with customers will all hit your bottom line. It’s a costly mistake that could have been prevented with an upfront investment in better network security.
- Angry clients. The loss of certain sensitive information (like your clients’ credit card or bank account information, for example) can lead to a lot of very upset clientele. Even in the best-case scenarios you will probably lose some loyal customers. In the worst case scenarios you could be sued.
- Lack of compliance/legal issues. Many industries, such as the healthcare and financial fields, have strict compliance rules for security. Failing to secure your data may also violate state laws. These violations can lead to fines and further damage to your business.
- Loss of reputation. Think of how you might feel about a friend who tells important secrets about you. In a similar way, leakage of your clients’ personal data can cause them to lose faith in you. If you want loyal, longtime customers who recommend you to their friends and family, you need to protect their data and safety.
