Why a Security Breach Could Destroy Your Brand

A study recently conducted by RiskVision, a respected developer of Risk Management software, determined that more businesses today are concerned about company reputation than they are about potential breaches of security which might impact them. It has long been known that companies consider a brand name to be one of their most significant assets, even though it’s an intangible that has value to no one outside the company itself.

In this survey, damage to a brand name was considered to be potentially more damaging than security breaches, even though the two often go hand-in-hand today. Hackers who successfully penetrate into a company’s computing network often do inflict serious damage to the reputation of the business, and subsequently its brand name. It should, therefore, be kept in mind by all business owners that security breaches need to be taken seriously, to prevent damage to the company brand-name, as well as all the usual financial ramifications.

How a Security Breach Can Damage Your Brand Name

Typically, the first thing a customer considers when thinking about brand names, about products or services, is whether or not the product or service provides quality and value, and whether the cost is in line with the levels of quality and value delivered. However, any company which has suffered a known security breach often falls into an entirely different frame of evaluation.

Consumers will often think that any business which has allowed itself to be hacked by criminals is not worthy of their trust and patronage. After all, if their business practices were lax enough to permit the cyber attack in the first place, that may be a sign that other important aspects of the business are also conducted with inadequate attention to detail. This fact is borne out powerfully in a poll jointly conducted by CSO and OnePoll, which attempted to determine the connection between insufficient security and a company’s brand name, as perceived by consumers.

In the survey, a whopping 86% of customers declared that they were unlikely to patronize a company which had suffered a severe security breach, especially if the breach was related to customer information. This represents a definite shift in consumer thinking from the early days of cyber attacks when businesses were perceived as victims entitled to understanding and sympathy from the public. In the now-famous cyber attack against department store giant Target, sales for the entire quarter after their security breach dropped like a rock, falling almost 50% from the prior quarter.

Impact of Security Breaches on Small Businesses

Major security breaches perpetrated against small companies can have an enormous effect and can cause irreparable brand-name damage from which recovery is either very difficult or downright impossible. In 2016, a study was conducted by KPMG which determined that almost 90% of small businesses had suffered serious brand name damage in the immediate aftermath of a security breach.

In a white paper published by the National Cyber Security Alliance, figures were released which showed that as many as 60% of all small businesses completely collapse less than six months following a significant cybersecurity breach. Interestingly, both of the studies referenced above reported that less than one-quarter of all small businesses considered cybersecurity to be a top priority. The fact that there has historically been relatively little concern about cybersecurity breaches may account for the often devastating impact that attacks have had on those business entities.

Taking Steps to Secure Your Business

A cyber security plan doesn’t need to be especially elaborate, and it doesn’t need to be funded to the hilt, with every conceivable kind of virus detection software. There just needs to be a well thought out plan for cybersecurity, and a legitimate effort to enforce that strategy. There are some straightforward but very cost-effective measures which can be adopted to thwart the vast majority of cyber attacks.

Using strong passwords on all company computers is a good start, followed up by installing security software on company devices. It’s always best to keep hardware and software updated with the latest available security patches and to periodically back up business-critical data. The weakest point of any company’s network should not be overlooked, which means employees need to be educated about the risks of cyber attack.

The important thing to remember about any cybersecurity policy is just to implement as many of the simple steps listed above as possible and to do it immediately so that your system is not left vulnerable to penetration by cyber attackers. As some of the survey results mentioned above make clear, every kind of business from the corporate giant on down to the mom-and-pop retail outlet must take all steps possible to avoid the possibility of major security breaches. Failing to do this can cost you a lot more than money – it can cause irreparable harm to your company’s reputation.