Many B2B marketers may ask, “Why is data security important to your business?” It’s about giving the customer confidence that it’s being processed and sent securely.
Data security is critical to businesses of all sizes, including global conglomerates, small start-ups, and fintech organizations, and data security can make or break your business.
Given the importance of customer data and its increasingly overwhelming use in marketing, international data protection regulations such as GDPR and CCPA have emerged.
Increased use of data for business purposes has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, incorporating data security measures increases the profitability and efficiency of a company, but on the other hand, as the use of data increases, it introduces potential security risks that can disrupt the company.
Window Synder, Chief Security Officer at Fastly, describes the importance of data security in the following words:
“One single vulnerability is all an attacker needs.”
The internet fraudsters can impersonate a business and can trick your data security measures to give out your personal and well as organizational-level information. When any such pissing activity occurs, your organization runs the risk of harming its omnichannel reputation and falling in the eyes of the customers to adversely impact brand loyalty and the framework built to deliver seamless customer experiences across omnichannel.
Read more on How Omnichannel Reputation Management Assists in B2B Branding
What is Data Security
Data security is the process of protecting digital data, including tags, in databases from destructive forces and unwanted actions by unauthorized users. B. Data Breach or Potential Cyberattack.
Hackers are everywhere and nothing is safe, so organizations must choose data security measures. Data security is important for companies to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer data. Additionally, companies are also responsible for protecting sensitive employee information, so data security is essential.
Ensuring data security is a daunting task as hackers develop sophisticated methods to circumvent organizational security and protection walls. With the help of data security measures, you protect your company from hefty fines that can change as punishment in the event of a potential data breach, without jeopardizing your company’s reputation.
How do you ensure Data Security
Still thinking about why data security is important for your business.
The answer lies in the following quote by Jeh Johnson, Former United States Secretary of Homeland Security:
“Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and it boils down to this: in cybersecurity, the more systems we secure, the safer we are.”
Being prepared to enforce data security measures is one thing; however, being overconfident can backfire. For example, while trying to minimize or omit the pissing emails, you should also be wary of other common ways of the data breach. Taking the following steps can help:
- Review your safety Mechanics
To effectively enforce the data security measures, companies must review them frequently for processing and handling data securely within the IT-ecosphere of a particular company.
Keeping a watch on the vulnerable systems that can be invaded by potential hackers such as websites, endpoints, unsecured portals, networks, and smart devices makes data security measures more effective.
- Employing Role-based access control (RBAC)
This data security method allows companies to decide who accesses which type of data, based on the job titles they hold in the company.
- Using endpoint protection software
End-point protection software doesn’t allow employees to access the unsecured web pages and thus curtail the risk of the data breach.
- The use of antivirus, data backup, and recovery software and firewalls
The above-mentioned methods of data security should be used regularly and kept up to date to safeguard customers’ data.
With regular backups, use od cloud and identification of your vulnerable points you can prevent the risk of your data running into the wrong hands.
Data security is all about protecting data from unauthorized access and data corruption, throughout the data lifecycle which includes steps such as data collection, processing, and transfer.
Benefits of Investing in Data Security Measures
In an era of omnichannel marketing and Internet of Things (IoT) information is collected in real-time across several digital platforms. As such companies must enforce effective data security measures to safeguard the vital data pertaining to their customers and employees from potential cybercrimes.
According to an estimate from IBM 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. Moreover, a report from CNBC substantiates that at least 15 million customers fall victim to identify fraud, costing more than $16 billion.
Thus, no matter what the size of your organization is, it’s completely justifiable to invest in data security measures and you can reap the following benefits at an organizational level:
1. Safeguards brand Reputation and Cultivates Brand Loyalty
Reputation takes years to build and can be lost in a moment of recklessness. Any potential data breach would not just risk you to hefty fines, but would also pose a threat to the security of your clients and thereby, the future of your business.
2. Helps Prevent Automated bot attacks
The biggest threat to data security in recent years has been the automation of the Cyber intrusion process. These automated cyberattacks can be initiated without the involvement of a hacker. Such attacks divert the attention of the security team to access the vital security systems of an organization.
3. Helps Curtail Unnecessary Expenses
Being vulnerable to cyberattacks and failing to invest in data security and the required security protocols, risks your businesses to the theft of information including financial documents, employee information, and confidential client files.
Beyond monetary losses, the impact of such vulnerabilities extends to deteriorate the trust and reliability of your company in the eyes of the potential and existing clients.
Clearly, investing in the data security measures safeguards the future of your firm and keeps you on the path of the uninterrupted economic process.
Wrapping Things Up
No business today, be it a small local company or a large corporation, should overlook implementing security measures. It’s normal to question yourself why data security is important for your business. The answer lies in the fact that implementing data security measures ensures business continuity in today’s data-driven world. Implementing data security measures not only helps avoid data breaches but also shields your organization against unnecessary financial costs, loss of public trust and potential threats to brand reputation and future profits.
Additionally, having a synchronized data security framework protects your company against legal or regulatory consequences aligned with breaches and prevents unauthorized access to computers, laptops, and smart devices, websites, networks, and peripheral pieces of equipment.
The businesses also need to sensitize their employees and instill in them a culture of data security.
As Steven Chabinsky, data and network security expert at White & Case LLP states, “Thinking of cybersecurity solely as an IT issue is like believing that a company’s entire workforce from the CEO down, is just one big HR issue.
Data security is something to be taken care of and constantly prepared for. Companies need to do whatever it takes to lower security risks.
As Geoff Livingston, Founder, Livingston Campaigns states, “Cyberwar is the battlefield now.”
There is no guarantee whatsoever that your organization will be free of spyware altogether; however, abiding by the data security norms can help you lower your risk.