Data: The King or Queen of your Castle

There is no doubt about it. Data is unquestionably the king or queen of any organisation.

No matter what shape, size or industry your business falls into, if you have personal data records, then you are a prime target for a cyber-attack.

Your business needs to man the grounds, check any secret entrances and be aware of any vulnerabilities within your troops. If there is a weakness, hackers will discover it and they will look to exploit it.

It is integral for modern-day businesses to make cyber security a high priority. Ransomware attacks have risen exponentially and continue to rise, as shown in Check Point’s mid-year security report, which shows that there was a 93% rise in attacks carried out in the first half of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

Protecting your Castle as a Small-Medium Business (SMB)

SMBs typically fall victim to cyber-attacks more frequently, as cyber-criminals might believe that it is harder to get the payout from larger enterprises. A common tactic used by hackers is to steal company data and threaten to release it unless they’re paid, knowing that SMBs may lack the required resources required to defend, and the easiest option is to just cough up and pay.

It's important also to be aware of other potential issues, both financial and non-financial, such as:

1. Reputational damage – don’t be that castle that everyone avoids because you didn’t look after your customer’s data. You could end up losing more in the long term.

SMB’s are also typically less prepared, with cyber security being further down on the priority list due to budget or lack of an in-house team. What smaller businesses need to realise is without investing in cyber security measures they are at risk of losing everything – not just their money and data but their reputation as being that business that didn’t see the need of protecting their customer’s data, consequently losing the trust of existing clients and future business.

2. Possible fines for breach of GDPR – adequate data protection is now a matter of legal compliance, and your business could be hit with heavy fines for not following sufficient data protection processes.

3. Personal stress – The attack of your business combined with receiving heavy fines could take a serious toll on your mental health, with digging yourself out of a cyber-attack sized hole a seemingly impossible task.

3. Personal stress – The attack of your business combined with receiving heavy fines could take a serious toll on your mental health, with digging yourself out of a cyber-attack sized hole a seemingly impossible task.