4 Serious Consequences of Data Breaches and How to Avoid Them

What are you doing to protect your business from a data breach? If you’re not prepared to handle a cyberattack, your organization could face serious consequences of data breaches.

A data breach is when confidential or sensitive information is accessed, stolen, or exposed by someone unauthorized to view it. This could include customer data, employee data, or proprietary company information.

There are many ways that a data breach can occur, including malware attacks, accidental exposure of files, and phishing schemes. No matter how it happens,  a data breach can be costly and damaging to your business.

Read on to learn a few of the most impactful effects of a data breach and how to avoid them.

Consequences of Data Breaches

1. They can damage an organization’s reputation. If word gets out that an organization has had a data breach, it can damage their reputation and make it difficult for them to do business. In some cases, customers may even boycott the organization.
2. They can lead to financial losses. Data breaches can lead to financial losses for an organization in a number of ways. For example, they may have to spend money on credit monitoring services for affected individuals, they may have to pay fines or penalties from regulators, and they may even see a decline in sales due to the damage to their reputation.
3. They can lead to lawsuits. If a data breach affects certain groups of people, class action lawsuits may result. For example, if an organization is breached and the information obtained includes names and social security numbers, they could be on the receiving end of a large number of lawsuits from individuals claiming negligence or demanding compensation for identity theft.
4. They can lead to increased spending on cyber security. If a data breach occurs and they organization is not equipped to deal with it, they may be forced to spend money on cyber security experts who can help detect and recover from breaches as well as prevent them in the future. The cost of such experts as well as their services can be quite expensive.

Protect Against Data Breaches

Data breaches can have a number of serious consequences for businesses, including financial losses, damage to reputation, lawsuits, and increased spending on cyber security. Fortunately, there are steps your business can take to help protect against data breaches. These include:

Implement Strong Password Policies

One of the simplest and most effective ways to protect against data breaches is to require employees to use strong passwords and change them on a regular basis.

Encrypt Sensitive Data

Another simple way to protect against data breaches is to encrypt sensitive data so that it can’t be accessed if it falls into the wrong hands.

Implement Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication, which requires employees to provide two pieces of information (e.g. a password and a code sent to their phone) in order to access sensitive data, can also help protect against data breaches.

Regularly Test the Security of Your Systems

It’s important to make sure that your systems are secure. You can do this by routinely testing them for vulnerabilities.

Have a Plan in Place in the Event of a Data Breach

If an organization is prepared to deal with data breaches, they’re less likely to experience the serious consequences listed above. For example, if your business has plans in place to minimize damage and recover quickly if a breach does occur, you’re less likely to experience serious consequences of data breaches.

Avoid Data Breaches with Weber TC

If you’re looking for a company that can help you protect your business from data breaches, Weber TC is here to help. We offer a variety of services that can help you keep your data secure! Contact us today to learn more.