The advancements in Information and Communication Technologies has revolutionized how businesses are done. In fact, businesses cannot exist and survive today without integrating with information technology. E-commerce platforms have made it easier for more people to venture into entrepreneurship and start-ups, due to the ease of management, lesser dependency on human resources, and lesser capital requirements. However, unlike large business establishments, who now understand the risks of existing in the cyber world, smaller businesses often tend to ignore the importance of cyber security.
Smaller businesses believe that there would be little risk to an unknown small-scale entity because cyber attacks are only carried out on bigger companies. This is a false assumption and smaller businesses are at as much risk as any other larger business entity. In fact, smaller businesses are much more vulnerable to such attacks since they have little resources to do much about the attackers and recover the loss. There are many companies that provide services related to cyber security Atlanta, but small businesses do not take them seriously. Here are a few reasons why you should take your cyber security seriously even if you are not a large scale entity.
Confidential Business Data
Imagine someone breaks into your physical office and steals confidential file that has your business plan or product design that you were working on for a client. Few weeks alter you will see the same product in the market before you have launched it. The same threats exist in the cyber world, with the only difference being that the attack would be made using technology. Just because your business is now based on IT, does not guarantee that no one can sneak into your data and steal it. In fact, an IT-based setup that exists without any cyber security protocols is much more vulnerable to such attacks compared to physical setups.
Confidential Customer Information
Imagine you run a small online store, and your customers data is breached during a cyber attack. Can you afford to lose your customers sensitive data such as credit card information toa hacker? Large banks around the world and corporate and technology giants such as Amazon, Facebook, and Target have gone through data breaches where credit card information of their customers was stolen. Since those companies had their cyber security protocols in place, they realized the breach in time, alerted the affected customers and executed a backup plan for data recovery and stronger security protocols. However, if as a teething start-up, you end up facing such a situation, consider your business going down the drain so it is better to be prudent.
Attacks on Business Websites
Just like someone can break into your physical store, a cyber attack can be made on your online store and your website can be brought down. What would you do if customers are not able to access your website during the peak shopping season and you end up losing them to other competitors? Moreover, online shopping is all about user experience and no user will be comfortable checking out a website that is loaded with malware. Cyber security can help to make your portals much safer and provide a better user experience.