Did you know that the average data security breach takes less time to pull off than it does to prepare a cup of coffee? 93% of successful data breaches occur in less than one minute. Yet, 80% of businesses take weeks to realise a breach has occurred. Cybercrime is on the rise and in today’s digital and data-driven world, and with new technological developments every day, hackers are finding innovative ways to compromise your confidential data.
Basic methods to protect yourself are no longer enough and could cost you your business. You have probably heard about some of the biggest data breaches in history with victims including giants like Yahoo, LinkedIn, and Facebook, but you probably think it will never happen to you. After all, if you are an SME (small-medium-enterprise), you may wonder why cybercriminals would target your business at all.
Recently, hackers breached the security of communications company, T-Mobile. The attack exposed the information of more than 40 million people, including names, birthdays, social security numbers, and driver’s licence information. The breach demonstrates that regardless of the size of your business, failing to keep your information assets safe can have serious implications.
ISO 27001: Information Security
ISO 27001 is the international standard that helps organisations manage and protect their information assets.
So, with that in mind, keeping your information assets secure should be your number one priority. But if the above examples aren’t enough to alarm you, grab a brew and stick around for five reasons why maintaining ISO 27001 should be at the top of your to-do list this month.
1. Costs Associated with a Data Breach
There are potential financial implications associated with a data breach, for example legal fees, investigation
and PR costs, and a risk of higher insurance premiums.
In addition to this, your business could be hit with huge fines. The UK GDPR and DPA 2018 set a maximum fine of £17.5 million or 4% of annual global turnover – whichever is the greater – for infringements.
2. Reputational Damage
A security breach poses a greater threat than just impacting short-term revenue, the reputational repercussions can last much longer than the short-term fine, causing customers, both existing and new to lose trust.
Even if your company’s data breach isn’t exactly breaking news, you still face public condemnation and disgruntled customers, or now former customers. Forbes reported that 46% of organisations suffered reputational damage as a result of a data breach. So, needless to say it pays to maintain your ISO 27001 standard, else you face detrimental long-term ramifications, hurting your brand.
3. Loss of Revenue
If you’re a company that solely relies on sales from its eCommerce platform, and you don’t maintain your ISO 27001 standard, bad news…the loss of revenue from a website outage could be extremely costly.
Amazon experienced a website defacement in 2013. Despite only lasting 40 minutes, they lost $66,240 per minute, almost $5 million dollars in less than one hour.
4. Unwanted Content on Your Website
There are different motivations for a security breach, financial gain, political, or even for entertainment. Some hackers may vandalise your website, and even if it is a few words changed, this may be even harder to notice.
In some instances, a hacker may add unwanted images or text on your website, leaving potential customers confused and likely to make a swift exit. Not ideal.
5. Loss of Intellectual Property
So, you’re working on a huge project which is extremely confidential, and your information assets are compromised. It’s not uncommon for hackers to target designs, strategies, and blueprints. Your stolen intellectual property could result in your business losing its competitive edge, and some rivals would not hesitate to take advantage of this.
Overall, maintaining ISO 27001 enables your business to avoid costly penalties associated with non-compliance and the financial losses resulting from data breaches. It also prevents reputational damage which could last a lifetime.
At Swift Certification, our friendly auditors ensure your business remains protected.