One aspect of my job which I really love is working with online businesses to bring about awareness of the huge range of security threats which exist to them. In fact the best aspect of being able to create an online business, in terms of the digital capability, is also the Achilles heel, which can be manipulated by those with bad intentions, to create huge damage to online companies.
Last week I was speaking with the highly knowledgeable Richard Blech, who works with top security company Secure Channels. During the conversation we talked about the cutting edge approach which the company is taking against a wide range of security threats, and how his company can offer a great option for online businesses to protect themselves. If you have an online business and you aren’t aware of the importance of security, here are just some of the risks which you could be facing.
Identity Theft
When your customers give you their personal information, they do so under the premise that you will protect their private details, and keep them safe. Whilst you may think that this doesn’t pose to much of a risk, you couldn’t in fact, be more wrong. Identity theft is one of the most common forms of cybercrime and the consequences of this happening to you company, with your customer’s information, could be catastrophic. These kind of attacks have happened on a grand scale in the past with the likes of Apple and Sony falling victim, if it can happen to them, it can definitely happen to you business. Whilst these industry giant were powerful enough to repair their reputation following the attacks, a smaller business could succumb entirely after such a sober attack.
Data Theft
Take a second and think about what kind of information your business’ computer and cloud systems have stored in them. Email conversations, private negotiations, business plans, employee data and any a huge range of other confidential information is likely to be stored on your systems, just imagine if they got into the wrong hands. This is a very real threat that hackers and even your competitors can pose in terms of your private data, giving you yet another reason to look into how you can best protect that information, and ensure that it stays private.
Computer Damage
Software and malicious attacks are so potent these days that they have the power to actually cause damage to your computers and its systems, something which could end up costing you an incredible amount of money to repair and replace. Attacks such as trojan horses, malware and spyware are easy to obtain and easy to use in terms of damaging your computing equipment. The worrying aspect about this kind of attack is that they are becoming more frequent, and more advanced. The best way therefore to protect the systems that your business is using, is to employ smart security strategies.