A lack of investment in cybersecurity and a data breach can have three major consequences: financial, reputational and legal.
In fact, cyber security is no longer just a matter of technology, but an essential aspect of business.
Gone are the days when companies could hand over data protection responsibilities to the IT department alone. After all, it has become strategic and affects all sectors.
The impact of lack of investment in security
Lack of investment in security results in substantial financial losses:
- Theft of corporate information;
- Theft of financial information (e.g. bank details or card details);
- Theft of money;
- Business interruptions (e.g. inability to carry out online transactions);
- Loss of business or contracts;
Companies that suffer cyber breaches usually also have costs associated with repairing systems, networks and devices.
This is especially important as companies are becoming increasingly digital, which means they will be exposed to a greater number of threats if they don’t manage security risk properly and make the necessary investment.
Reputational damage is greater than financial damage
Many companies have not yet realized or measured the real impact of the loss of credibility. Trust is undoubtedly an essential element in customer relations.
After all, cyber attacks and data theft can damage your organization’s reputation and completely break down the trust that consumers have in you.
This, in turn, can lead to consequences such as:
- Loss of customers;
- Loss of sales;
- Significant reduction in profits;
- Bankruptcy.
The effect of reputational damage due to a lack of investment in security can impact even your suppliers, as well as the relationships you have with partners, investors and third parties involved in your business.
Understanding the importance of changing the mindset when it comes to investing in cybersecurity has become vital. In the midst of the digital transformation era, companies cannot risk suffering an attack or not knowing how to handle an incident.
Legal consequences of a lack of investment in security
We mustn’t forget that failing to invest in security also results in legal problems. After all, the General Data Protection Act (LGPD) requires your company to manage all the personal information it holds, whether it’s about your staff or your customers.
If this data is accidentally or deliberately compromised, and you fail to implement the appropriate security measures, you could face fines and regulatory sanctions that could make your business unviable.
Recent global breaches have impacted more than 200,000 computers in 150 countries and cost millions; nothing could make the importance of investing in cyber security clearer, as it impacts companies as a whole, not just IT departments.
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The risk of attacks is real and affects every company
It’s not enough to read this post, agree that we need to invest in security and do nothing. Because you have to be aware that the risk is real and will affect your company’s operations cycle at some point.
A simple risk analysis is enough to see what can happen to your organization, employees and, above all, customers:
- Physical loss of data. You can lose immediate access for reasons ranging from flooding to power outages. This can also happen for simpler reasons, such as a disk failure;
- Unauthorized access to data. Remember that if you have confidential client information, you are often contractually responsible for protecting it as if it were your own;
- Interception of information in transit. The risks include data transmitted between company sites or between the organization and its employees, partners and contractors, at home or elsewhere;
- Your data could fall into the hands of other people. Do you share this information with third parties, including contractors, partners and other important data? What protects them while they are in your hands or those of your partners?
- Data corruption, intentional or not. This can modify them to favor an external party or because of a software error.
Every company needs to have a security investment program
A lack of cyber security needs to be seen as a business risk and not just a technology problem. It is therefore necessary to follow guidelines that help the organization achieve adequate levels of protection.
So no matter what size your company is, it needs to have an investment plan to guarantee the security of its information assets.
This plan is responsible for all the policies and processes for creating a cyber security program, as well as making you think holistically about your organization’s data protection.
In short, a program provides the framework for keeping your company at an adequate level of security, assessing the risks you face, deciding what to prioritize and planning how to have up-to-date practices.
Investing in security means protecting its confidentiality, integrity and availability
Having a security investment program means that you have taken steps to reduce the risk of losing data in various ways and have defined a lifecycle for managing the information and technology in your organization.
Fortunately, cybersecurity technologies are available to companies of different sizes and segments, so they adapt to their business realities and help them meet the challenges of data protection.
How to minimize the impact of cyber attacks on companies
As we have seen, security breaches can devastate even the most resilient companies.
It is extremely important to manage the risks according to the nature of the business before and after an attack takes place, make the necessary investments and create an effective cyber incident protection and response plan. Since it can help your company:
- Prevent and reduce the impact of cyber attacks;
- Report incidents to the responsible authorities;
- Recover the affected systems;
- Getting your business up and running in the shortest possible time.
In this way, we can see that making an investment in security means training, educating and raising awareness among your organization’s users on an ongoing basis and, of course, acquiring technologies and services, always seeking to guarantee the protection of customer data and business continuity, enabling the company’s continued growth.
Do you have any questions about this? Our experts will be happy to answer your questions and contribute to your information security projects.
About Eval
EVAL has been developing projects in the financial, health, education and industry segments for over 18 years. Since 2004, we have offered Authentication, Electronic and Digital Signature and Data Protection solutions. Currently, we are present in the main Brazilian banks, health institutions, schools and universities, and different industries.
With value recognized by the market, EVAL’s solutions and services meet the highest regulatory standards of public and private organizations, such as SBIS, ITI, PCI DSS, and LGPD. In practice, we promote information security and compliance, increase companies’ operational efficiency, and reduce costs.
Innovate now, lead always: get to know Eval’s solutions and services and take your company to the next level.
Eval, safety is value.
