Technology has, of course, made a tremendous impact on the world we live in. However, it is no secret that cybercrime has become an unfortunate downside of the new technology that we all have at our fingertips. In fact, cybercrime is so prevalent in our society that it is estimated to have risen by around 358% between 2019 and 2020 alone. You could argue that this steep rise is only present because the technology is now available for this type of harmful action to exist. Even if this is the case, it is still an alarming statistic to look at.
Cybercrime is something that can affect anyone with a computing device. However, the main targets of this type of crime always seem to be businesses. A cyber-attack can steal your money, but there are other impacts that the working world now needs to be aware of.
Increase In Staff Training
The ideal job candidate for a company is someone that already knows what they are doing. Your recruitment team should be able to glance at their resume and see that they have the right amount of experience to do the job or the necessary education. You may need to take some time to show them how these aspects work specifically within your company, but that shouldn’t take long if you have hired a capable employee. However, the presence of cybercrime has put a wrench in a lot of staff training programs.
Training your staff to deal with cybercrime is much more difficult than teaching some to use PDF tools. Most cybercriminals gain access to your company’s data by aiming phishing emails at your employees or exploiting weak password management within your company. This means that you must make sure that all your staff are trained to deal with these situations. However, cybercrime is a phenomenon that keeps evolving. Therefore, you will have to keep enhancing your staff training procedures and update everyone about cybercrime at least once a year.
Lowering Your Credit Score
A cyberattack from an outside source will always try to steal your employee’s personal data or the money that your business currently has. However, these attacks can also prevent you from making more money in the future.
A cyberattack can lower your company’s credit score as there is no sure way to prove that a sudden loss of finances is not your fault. Losing such an amount of money could also prevent you from making payments to loan providers, which is one of the biggest things that can affect your credit score. A low credit score may not seem like something to worry about. However, a low credit score for a large business could have consequences like:
- Failing future loan applications
- Higher insurance
- Failing to gain access to future properties to expand your business
- Inability to provide employees with a company credit card
- Difficulty Securing suppliers
Poor Reputation
A business is able to shape its success based on how it is viewed in the public eye. A positive reputation will increase your reputation and lead to more sales. However, a poor reputation will have an inverse effect.
Most potential clients will not care about what is going on behind the scenes at your company. Unfortunately, the revelation of a cyberattack on your business or negative publicity on the news is going to color how you are perceived. Therefore, customers who only know you by the results of cybercrime may not use your services in the future and go to a competing company instead. Fewer customers at your door mean fewer sales.
Legal Ramifications
Whenever you bring someone into your fold in the digital age, you are expected to promise that you will keep their data and money safe. It doesn’t matter if it is a new employee, a client, or an investor, anyone of these could be affected by a cyber breach within your company. As such, you will probably have to sign a lot of legal contracts that promise that you will keep their data safe.
It doesn’t matter if you have brought in some new cybersecurity protocols, a cyberattack can serve as a direct breach of these contracts. While the cyber attack may not have been your fault, the ramifications of the crime could leave you as the target of severe legal action. A loss of data or finances influences other people involved in your business. Therefore, these people may have grounds to sue your company after a successful cyberattack.
Poor Employee Retention
The presence of cybercrime doesn’t only mean that you have to deal with additional employee training. A successful cyberattack on your business could make it difficult for you to retain any staff at all.
Most employees will choose to work somewhere with minimal stress. However, a cyberattack revealing their personal information or financial details is a highly stressful situation. A situation that they are likely to associate with working for your company. As such, they may find the attack as a reason to leave your employment. What’s more, the bad reputation that spreads after a cyber breach may cause other employees to jump ship and may prevent new people from joining your company.
Higher Cyber Insurance
Cybercrime is such a threat in the digital age that it has spawned new industries to help people tackle it. One such industry is the cyber insurance industry.
This type of cover will help you deal with the legal ramifications of data leaking as a result of cybercrime. As with any insurance policy, you will be expected to make monthly payments as part of your insurance policy. However, the size of these payments is determined by your security protocols. A breach in these security systems indicates that they are no longer effective. Therefore, your cyber insurance payments will rise.
Conclusion
You are probably already aware of the effects of cybercrime by now. However, experience has revealed the many implications of a cyberattack on a business. That is why you should try to keep your business as safe as possible so you do not experience any of the impacts listed above.
