Lesson 10 - The Consequences of a Security Breach
To protect an organization from every possible cyberattack is not feasible, for a few reasons. The expertise necessary to set up and maintain the secure network can be expensive. Attackers will always continue to find new ways to target networks. Eventually, an advanced and targeted cyberattack will succeed. The priority will then be how quickly your security team can respond to the attack to minimize the loss of data, downtime, and revenue.
By now you know that anything posted online can live online forever, even if you were able to erase all the copies in your possession. If your servers were hacked, the confidential personnel information could be made public. A hacker (or hacking group) may vandalize the company website by posting untrue information and ruin the company’s reputation that took years to build. The hackers can also take down the company website causing the company to lose revenue. If the website is down for longer periods of time, the company may appear unreliable and possibly lose credibility. If the company website or network has been breached, this could lead to leaked confidential documents, revealed trade secrets, and stolen intellectual property. The loss of all this information may impede company growth and expansion.
The monetary cost of a breach is much higher than just replacing any lost or stolen devices, investing in existing security and strengthening the building’s physical security. The company may be responsible for contacting all the affected customers about the breach and may have to be prepared for litigation. With all this turmoil, employees may choose to leave the company. The company may need to focus less on growing and more on repairing its reputation.