Last year was a flagship year for corporate data breaches. Companies big and small, and even institutions renowned for having great security, all fell to the hands of determined hackers. A recent study revealed that over 58% of companies in APAC prefer not to take precautions and instead adopt a ‘detect and respond’ approach. People have been sleeping on the idea of cybersecurity for years, but it’s only recently that every company has started to realize the inflexible relationship between online security and data. Allow this article to convince you further.
The Right to Privacy
It’s the duty of companies to protect the privacy of their clients. It doesn’t matter what industry your company is part of, the importance of privacy should always be treated as gospel. This also goes to your employees’ data as well. Accessing all these data shouldn’t be easy for unauthorized personnel and the public in general. Here now comes the role of online security—to keep your corporate data of both your clients and employees private and protected.
Crime and Fraud Prevention
Today’s generation of cyber criminals have updated their tactics to bring down major companies. Not only are they after an organization’s downfall, they also want their sensitive data to be used for different fraudulent schemes. Online security helps in preventing these probabilities from ever happening. Companies are expected to keep up with them by making improvements to their online security, no matter how small those improvements are. Letting these criminals roam is never an option.
Resource Protection
A weak online security can also affect your company’s resources, mainly your computers and mobile devices. If one of your employees got infected by a dangerous malware for merely clicking the wrong link, it’s only a matter of time before every device in your network is infected. Worst case scenario is that all your computers and servers will be destroyed, rendering all of your hard work useless. So in order to protect corporate data, you also have to protect the devices where your data is stored.
Integrity and Reliability
Study the companies who got breached in the past. What do you think is their reputation after they failed to protect their corporate data? They lost customers, profit, investors, and most importantly, public trust. A well implemented online security system boosts your image as a responsible and trustworthy entity. This assures your current patrons that they are in good hands while attracting more clients and investors.
Importance of Implementing Online Security
Consider the infamous case of Equifax as a cautionary tale. After one of the biggest credit company in the US was hacked that led to the exposure of over 140 million accounts, investigations found out that the whole fiasco could’ve been avoided by patching a vulnerability in a simple software. By failing to focus on cybersecurity, Equifax failed to preserve the privacy of all its clients and its reputation as a public-trusted financial institution. Unsurprisingly, this scandal resulted to the inevitable downfall of Equifax.
It’s a good thing that most companies in APAC have increased their budget on cybersecurity, but that shouldn’t end there. Organizations looking to improve their public trust should adopt advanced security solutions such as two-factor authentication, anti-ransomware system, and biometric devices. A simple security product in a company’s website is a good first step towards achieving this.
Companies should also focus on educating their employees on online security while also teaching their clients on how to have a safe online transaction with their respective brands. Together with implementing industry’s best practices for online security, failures like the Equifax breach will be a thing of the past.
Online security is a must in today’s interconnected environment, that’s why it is important to keep up with the fast-evolving internet world. If you want to learn more about enforcing online security for your company, head down to our official website.
