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Published On: Tue, May 24th, 2016

Why Digital Security Is So Important for Modern Businesses

Today’s business relies heavily on technology and digital communications in ways that most are just beginning to understand. Unfortunately, this also leaves them vulnerable in ways which they cannot understand and may never fully understand, but are there nonetheless. Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Take the wind for example. You can’t see the movement of air but you can see trees swaying along with dust and debris floating because the wind is propelling it.

This is much the same as what a hacker can do to your business. You may not see him moving stealthily through your digital files, but once the movement is created you will certainly see the debris falling from the cloud like a nuclear attack. Why is digital security so important for modern businesses? Quite simply, because otherwise they are left open to attack from a number of directions. Here is some of what you can do to protect your business, your employees, your clients and anyone you communicate with on a digital level.

Speaking of the Cloud…

photo/ Winmax IT

photo/ Winmax IT

One of the biggest problems that today’s business is likely to encounter is the danger of important information being leaked in the Cloud. However, it should be understood that not all Cloud based servers are vulnerable because they have been set up with the highest levels of security. Cisco, for example, is an industry leader in Cloud based communications technology and can be trusted to provide the ultimate in security for products and services purchased through a reputable and authorized Cisco dealer.

As a business owner or director, you can’t be expected to understand the technology that surrounds the Cloud but you can make it your job to understand the need for high level security. There is a great deal of concern as to the safety and integrity of data stored in the Cloud on some remote server but the solution is easier than you think. Only trust reliable servers and platforms provided by industry leaders who ensure that your data will be stored with the latest security technology and you can leave it in their hands. That’s what they are getting paid to do!

One Breech Can Have a Snowball Effect

Perhaps one of the most important reasons why digital security is so important is because of the fact that just one breach can have what can best be described as a snowball effect. Let’s say, for example, your email contacts list is hacked. That hacker can now sell your list to unsuspecting clients looking for leads in your industry. That, alone, is bad enough. You have now exposed your company to huge dollar amounts in losses of new and repeat business.

But let’s take it one step further. Many of the ways in which consumers pay for products and services online is through the creation of accounts that use their email address as their username. Imagine what this does for those involved in identity theft schemes? Unless those user passwords are heavily encrypted, which most likely aren’t when they are consumer passwords, they are easy to crack. Now the hacker can have unlimited ‘buying power’ through the email accounts that have been cracked.

Questions Stemming from Last Year’s Ashley Madison Hack

When traced back to a breech in your company’s security, what do you think your liability will be? Case in point, look at last year’s hack of the now infamous Ashley Madison cheaters website. It may be in bad taste to say ‘luckily’ but in reality it was lucky for the cheaters’ website that the user data hacked was for no other purpose than to make known the tens of thousands of marital cheaters around the globe. That information, per Internet rules of ethical conduct, is fair game.

However, what would have been the website’s liability had that information been used to hack personal financial information? That would have put them in another ballpark altogether. It would be interesting to follow up on the ‘cheaters’ to see if any of their personal accounts had been the subject of identity theft. At this point, little is known but it is a possibility that could, and should, be explored.

For many reasons you can only begin to imagine, digital security is vital to the longevity and financial success of your business. From the loss of data relating to intellectual property to financial information to ‘simple’ malicious malware, there are so many reasons hackers will try to infiltrate your data storage and that’s why you need the very best protection money can buy. Your business depends on being secure from attack and if recent history hasn’t taught you that lesson, keep your fingers crossed you don’t learn the hard way. That’s a costly and often deadly lesson to learn.

Guest Author: Carol Trehearn

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