What's an IT Data Breach Liability Report and Why They're Important
2022-10-17 19:50:14
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Every business needs a solid IT infrastructure to protect itself from various security threats. Every day, over 30,000 websites are victims of hacking, and no company, big or small, is exempt from threats. So why are so many businesses still not taking sufficient steps to stay safe?
One of the main reasons businesses are not protecting themselves from threats such as IT data breaches is a result of a lack of awareness and education. Ongoing employee training and using managed IT services are two solutions that help manage a business, its IT system, and its growing IoT (Internet of Things).
Data breaches are one of the most significant risks for businesses, which is why an IT data breach liability report is vital for your business. Read on to learn more.
What Is a Data Breach?
A data breach is a security incident where information stored on your IT system is accessed, deleted, modified, or stolen without permission. Usually, the system's owner is unaware of the data breach, so it is without their authority. During a data breach, an array of information can be taken, including client information, sensitive business data, and financial details.
Data breaches occur in different ways, including both physical and electronic violations. The physical kind involves stealing items such as laptops and external hard drives. In contrast, an electronic attack is a deliberate or unauthorised entry into your business system to access information. It can occur in various ways, such as through malware, phishing, or password guessing. IoT cyberattacks continue to increase, too, with over 900 million data breaches occurring through IoT devices.
IT Data Breach Risks
An IT data breach can impact your business in a variety of ways. Knowing your business's risks is essential to implementing the right prevention policies—some of the top threats to look out for are:
- Business Downtime
If an IT data breach occurs, you will immediately lose out on productivity. Systems could crash, or IT services may need downtime to isolate threats and regain control. Your business will not be able to continue normal operations until the data breach is addressed and resolved.
- Loss of Revenue
The average cost of business downtime amounts to R94,777.00 per minute. IT services will have to spend time recovering data and gaining control over IT infrastructure once more. The time it takes depends on the extent of the IT data breach and the infrastructure you have to deal with them, such as data backup.
- Loss of Reputation
Data breaches do not just impact your business revenue; they can also negatively affect your business's reputation. Clients and customers seek to work with a company they can trust with their data.
Falling victim to data breaches can mean they lose trust in your business and may look elsewhere for more trustworthy services and suppliers. Furthermore, it can also impact customer reviews and reduce the number of new clients your business may have attracted.
Data breaches destroy 1 in 8 businesses, with 60% of companies who experienced a data breach going out of business within six months following the breach. There are various reasons for this, including productivity loss, reputation damage, and subsequent revenue loss. However, data breaches can also lead to costly legal cases, affecting your business further.
IT Data Breach Liability
Your business can also be held liable for those affected by an IT data breach, leading to fines, settlements, and even civil lawsuits. There are different liability risks, including:
- Third-party vendor breach and
- Customer data breaches.
Your company may be accountable if a vendor does not maintain security compliance or is not correctly following security protocols. You are responsible for researching vendors and ensuring their data processes are secure. You can also be liable if there is a customer data breach due to you not adequately protecting their information. Or perhaps if an employee raised an issue and your business took no action to address or rectify it.
How To Prevent Data Breaches
There are a variety of steps you can take to prevent data breaches. Hiring managed IT services to assess your IT infrastructure is the best place to start. These professionals will be able to provide recommendations and solutions that strengthen your company's overall IT security.
IT Data Breach Liability Report
One way managed IT services can help identify data breaches is by producing an IT breach liability report that uses tools to identify a business network's vulnerabilities and find personally identifiable information.
An IT data breach liability report can help identify the potential liability impact of exposing personally identifiable information. It assesses the probability of data breaches occurring and details what type of data is most at risk.
Benefits of an IT Data Breach Liability Report
Reporting is one of the best places to start when taking action against data breaches. It offers several benefits to your organisation, including:
- Identifying potential data vulnerabilities
- Providing liability calculations and
- Providing recommendations for steps to take to avoid violations.
Getting everyone on board with changing IT security policies and investing more into data protection can be challenging. However, an IT data breach liability report provides the evidence you need to present to other employees. The information is easy to understand and recommends actionable steps to avoid costly liability risks.
It will be able your business to take the necessary steps to protect data and avoid costly data breaches. If you enlist help from managed IT services, you can continue to focus on business operations while having peace of mind that they are securing your business.
Hire Managed IT Services
A potential IT data breach is one of your business's many risks if it does not have a managed IT service like that offered by Daisy IT Solutions. An effective way to secure your business is to outsource managed IT services. You have access to a team of IT specialists who will produce IT data breach liability reports and any other services your company may need. Outsourcing to an IT service is the most cost-effective solution to secure your business fast.
Daisy's managed IT services can care for all your business IT needs. Contact us today to learn more.