There are essentially two types of companies today: those that have gone through the pain, anguish, and expense of a data breach, and those that will be going through it sometime in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, there are businesses that fall into both camps, so just because you’ve been there, done that doesn’t mean you’re forever in the clear. Hackers don’t write free passes to excuse you from being get targeted again.
The average data breach costs $201 per record stolen, for an average total price of $5.85 million. However, this figure is just part of the picture. It includes the cost of the time, lost revenue, legal and PR expenses, and other costs directly related to the breach. It doesn’t account for the intangible price tag — the cost to your brand name and reputation. The best course of action is to develop a data breach preparedness strategy. The value of such a plan is also immeasurable.
The process of developing a data breach preparedness strategy forces you to think through your current network security solutions. The very act of doing this will help you see vulnerabilities that weren’t obvious to you before. That means that you can take action now, before a breach occurs, and be better protected against actually having to face one in the future.
In the event that a data breach does occur (and the chances strongly favor that you will have at least a partial data breach at some point), the preparedness plan gives you a series of actionable steps to take immediately in response to the breach. It designates who will be in charge of what, so that no one is wandering around unsure of what their responsibilities are.
The action plan, much like any other disaster recovery plan, outlines exactly how to detect a breach, shut down a breach in progress, begin collecting forensic evidence of the attack, identify what records were compromised, and determine what you need to do in terms of notifying the authorities and any affected parties. It will also include any possible recovery processes to restore data that was corrupted or erased during the breach, so that your systems remain operational and your production and/or customer service is impacted minimally.
Your business spends so much time, money, and effort into building a good brand name and corporate image, but losing your customers’ sensitive data can derail all those efforts quickly.
The real costs of a breach of your network security aren’t readily obvious until systems are restored and the whole incident is under control. That’s when you can truly see how the event affected your corporate image, how it impacted employee morale, and what legal liabilities it opened up. A preparedness plan will help you establish legal representation, public relations assistance, cyber forensics experts, and other means for mitigating the damages of a data breach.
While you can’t always prevent a breach, you can always be prepared. It begins by boosting your network security and ends with a solid plan of action to take, just in case. Request a quote for your security solution today.