Many small business owners think they are too small to be a target for cyber criminals, the truth is that companies of all sizes face major risks when it comes to data breaches and lack of information security procedures. Failure to properly secure customer data can result in severe penalties, legal liability, and a devastating loss of customer trust.
The Devastating Impact for One Small Retailer
We took a call this week from a small retailer who has learned this lesson the hard way. Despite running anti-virus software and a firewall, they had no formal processes around customer data collection, storage, or privacy practices. A hacker has managed to access the company’s point-of-sale system and potentially access customer payment information. Worse still they were unaware of the hack which happened 3 months ago, until recently. But at least they have sought advice so they can get the response right rather than making things worse.
Currently we are assessing the impact of the breach, we have informed the Information Commissioner’s Office as we believe the breach relates to at least 5000 customers.
The Stakes are Extremely High
Data protection legislation like GDPR can carry hefty penalties for non-compliance but even when the situation doesn’t result in a fine, the costs of a data breach in terms of lost business, legal fees, incident response, and reputational damage can cripple an unprepared small business.
More importantly, customers now expect companies to take data privacy seriously and have strict security measures in place. If a breach exposes their personal information, customers may lose faith and take their business elsewhere. In our digital world, safeguarding data and ensuring robust information security practices is a cost for any company.
Is Your Business Truly Secure?
Thinking about this new client and their data breach, we recognise that data protection compliance and having robust information security practices in place is an ongoing process for all businesses. As a minimum, you would need to consider the following areas:
- Documenting what personal data you collect and how it is processed
- Using encryption for storage and transmission
- Implementing strong access controls and authentication
- Having a response policy in place for data breaches and managing data requests from customers
- Providing employee training on data protection and information security
- Having someone who is the lead for data protection and information security queries.
- Many small businesses mistakenly think they are already handling customer data securely through basic cybersecurity tools.
Take Action Before you have an incident
Ensuring compliance with data protection laws protects both your company’s finances and reputation as a trustworthy business. While it requires a bit of investment of time and resources, working towards robust data security practices is a necessity, not an option and it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Don’t become another small business cyber breach statistic like my client.
Make a start with data protection and information security. Protecting customer data is one of the most important aspects of running your business.
If you want to have an informal chat about your current practices and get some ideas for things to implement quickly and easily, you can book a call here.