Partner Article

Cybersecurity should be top of the business agenda

By Chris Underhill, Chief Technical Officer at Cyber Security Partners

Last year, cyber criminals had a field day wreaking havoc across some of the UK’s biggest companies. Whilst hackers cleaned up by flogging billions of consumers’ details online, C-Suite execs were left mopping up the mess at HQs across the country.

A recent study by think-tank, CEBR, estimates that cyber attacks cost UK businesses a whopping £34bn a year. Whilst it’s no secret that cyber crime can inflict a hefty price tag, many companies overlook the sheer magnitude of the potentially huge costs involved.

If cyber security isn’t top of the business agenda for you this year, then let me give you five irrefutable reasons why it should be:

Customer churn

With the majority of attacks targeting sensitive customer information, any word of a data security breach can seriously shake consumer trust in your business. The way you deal with the aftermath can be a deal breaker when it comes to customer retention. However, the likelihood is that most businesses will suffer a loss following an attack, with many previously content customers looking around for a safer option. TalkTalk admitted losing over 100,000 customers following the attack the company experienced last year.

Follow up attacks

One cyber attack in isolation can be devastating, but many businesses and their customers are often subjected to diagonal replay attacks following the first offence. This is largely due to the fact that once data is stolen, it is usually sold on to other criminals and used in multiple scams and attacks, with the effects not always immediately apparent. In the recent Ashley Madison case, the company was held to ransom for weeks following the initial data breach, before details about the site’s customers were finally leaked online. It’s not unusual for criminals to blackmail businesses over a long period of time meaning an attack can turn into a very painful and drawn-out process.

Costly IT upgrade

Once your company’s vulnerability has been exposed to both customers and to the cyber criminal community, you’re going to have to go the extra mile to demonstrate you’re security credentials are up to scratch. According to the CEBR study, UK businesses spent £16bn beefing up their defences following embarrassing cyber attacks last year. This will prove to be a far more expensive investment than simply implementing adequate security protocols in the first instance.

Brand damage

Every business leader appreciates the value of a good reputation, and how important it is to identify, manage and prevent risks to your company’s image long before a crisis strikes. Some scenarios are impossible to predict, however cyber attacks are not one of them. Cyber criminals are plotting at this very moment and it’s only a matter of time before your company could become the target. Winning back consumer trust in your brand can be a slow and difficult process and one which most businesses won’t survive. Your reputation is the backbone of your business; make sure you keep it intact.

Share price slump

Not every company is public but those that are have more than just their employees and customers to think about. Rumours of a cyber scare can be enough to spook some of your shareholders into selling up, so an actual full-scale attack can be devastating. Indeed, TalkTalk’s shares dropped 11% after the company reported a hack in October 2015. Shareholder confidence is a fragile thing and something not to be messed with.

As some CEOs are working hard to rebuild their broken businesses this year, others remain sitting ducks for cyber attacks. Shockingly,recent research by CSP reveals that 97% of FTSE 250 companies are not adequately protecting their email channels against phishing attacks, one of the easiest routes for cyber criminals to exploit businesses. Business leaders can no longer afford to ignore the threat of cyber crimes such as email phishing and malware, and must prioritise preventing attacks instead of just dealing with the fallout should their business be targeted.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Cyber Security Partners .