Research<\/a> has shown that small companies suffer the most from cyberattacks, with about 67% of them suffering a cyberattack and 58% have suffered a breach. They are easy prey to the attackers because they are usually unprepared or do not have enough resources to resolve most attacks.<\/p>\nCustomer data makes up a part of your company\u2019s asset<\/h3>\n Data today is a very important tool in the digital space. It not only provides you with factual information that can help you improve your company, but it also helps you provide better services and products for your customers.<\/p>\n
By satisfying your customers and meeting their needs through the information you derive from their data, you boost your company\u2019s revenue. Based on these important benefits both for the present and future of your company, you can describe customers\u2019 data as assets.<\/p>\n
Your company\u2019s assets in the wrong hands, such as your competition, can quickly run you out of the market. If cybercriminals steal your customers\u2019 data and sell it to your competition, you may kiss your business goodbye.<\/p>\n
You can save unnecessary costs<\/h3>\n If you are not adequately prepared for the worst data breach cases and you get hit, the costs incurred can cause a huge blow to your business\u2019 finances.<\/p>\n
In trying to salvage the damage done by cybercriminals, you may have to spend unbudgeted resources, which may affect the smooth flow of other processes in the business. A shortage of money may also cause stunted output, which can lead to a loss of customers.<\/p>\n
You protect your company\u2019s reputation<\/h3>\n When your customers allow you access to their data and other sensitive information, such as their credit card details, they trust you to keep it safe.<\/p>\n
When your business suffers cyber attack after cyber attack because you fail to protect your customers\u2019 data adequately, it gives your business a bad name. Your customers start to lose their confidence in you and may boycott your company to avoid future risks.<\/p>\n
You can face lawsuits or incur monetary fines<\/h3>\n With the CDPA and other Data Protection Acts in place, companies are liable to go to court or pay monetary fines for mishandling customers\u2019 data. Customers may also sue companies for putting their data at risk, which may run into losing millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
There may be repeat cyber attacks<\/h3>\n Because the main goal of malicious cyber attacks is money, the hackers may automate the cyberattacks to occur repeatedly.<\/p>\n
These attacks are set up so that the hackers do not even have to be at their computers for the bugs to be deployed. Knowing that they have unprepared businesses to attack for money encourages them to tamper with your data consistently.<\/p>\n
How can you protect your customer data?<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Knowing how important it is to protect your customers\u2019 data, there are certain steps you should take to do so. Check out the 5-step method to securing your customer data from breaches below.<\/p>\n
Use a secure network<\/h3>\n This is the first step to create a secure database for the company and the employees in the organization. A secure, dedicated server lowers the risk of leaving vital customers\u2019 data open to breaches. It is also important to continuously back up said data to prevent data loss.<\/p>\n
Create stronger passwords<\/h3>\n A weak password leaves a vulnerable entry point for hackers and malicious cyber users. With all the sensitive data being stored, all passwords should be as uncrackable as possible and not just a random, easy-to-guess word.<\/p>\n
It should consist of varying letters in different cases, numbers, and symbols for stronger protection. You can also use password management tools like LastPass for 2-factor authentication purposes.<\/p>\n
Keep only the data you need<\/h3>\n Sometimes businesses may store some data that is no longer necessary to the company but is still sensitive information. The more data you store, the greater the risk your business is taking, so deleting data that is no longer serving you is a wise decision.<\/p>\n
However, before you take the leap, ensure you destroy irrelevant data before erasing them from your database. It\u2019s easy for hackers to retrieve data from hard drives if it is not properly destroyed first.<\/p>\n
Prepare for data disasters and emergencies<\/h3>\n If you face a data breach today, do you have a plan to mitigate the effects and quickly salvage the damage done? If your answer is \u201cno,\u201d then you need to map out one immediately.<\/p>\n
With the aid of data security personnel, you should build a workable data protection strategy for your business to combat any cyber attack disasters or emergencies.<\/p>\n
Train data-handling staff for data protection practices<\/h3>\n Adequate hands-on training is essential for staff that have access to sensitive customers\u2019 data. This training should cover the essential practices for data protection to avoid internal data leaks or sensitive data exposure from your very own employees.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n Although useful, customer data is high-risk information that can cause problems for your customers if they fall into the wrong hands. To ensure that you keep your customers\u2019 trust and maintain your credibility as a company, you must create a data protection strategy to secure this data.<\/p>\n
Comply with the Customers\u2019 Data Protection Act as it applies to your company and follow the 5-step data protection method we have outlined in the article to keep your customer data safe and away from data thieves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now more than ever, privacy on the internet is becoming a thing of the past. Personal information fills the digital space, giving cybercriminals and fraudsters a playground and potential minefield for data breaches to occur. People are becoming wary of quickly handing over their data to online entities and companies because of the regularity of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":15681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":""},"categories":[3501],"tags":[3799,8667,3542],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
6 Key Reasons Why You Should Protect Your Customers\u2019 Data in 2021 - OpenBusinessCouncil Directory<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n