While technology’s continuous advancement provides many benefits, it also gives cybercriminals new techniques to break into your systems. Nowadays, no organization, industry, or even country is safe from cyberattacks. And according to statistics, 43% is targeted at small businesses. 

Given this data, startups must step up their game in security as much as they do in thinking of uncommon marketing strategies. That way, they can avoid the huge cost of ignoring it. If you want to learn what you’re risking for not investing in cybersecurity, read on to learn more.

Why Do Business Startups Need Cybersecurity?

One simple reason is that they hold invaluable information that hackers may exploit, such as customers’ personal and financial data. If these fall into the wrong hands, there’s a high chance that they’ll lose everything. 

While they may think they’re too small for these scams and attacks, they should still implement strong cybersecurity measures. Ignoring these can expose them to a broader scope of threats. Let’s take a closer look at them. 

The Cost of Neglecting It

Increased Security Risks 

The most obvious reason why investing in cybersecurity is important is because it can help you avoid various security risks. There are different cyber attacks that you should be aware of, such as phishing, ransomware, SQL injection, malware, and many more. Not proactively patching and updating your systems, or implementing cybersecurity measures, in general, can only lead to attacks as hackers can exploit known vulnerabilities.

Tainted Brand Reputation 

Another significant consequence of ignoring security is losing your brand reputation, which took you so much time to build. With the power of social media, the news of data breaches can spread quickly. If your company came into a situation like this, expect to be put in a bad light and public scrutiny. 

The worst-case scenario is losing your customers and stakeholders. All those efforts in fostering those relationships can be thrown away in a single breach. Thus, it’s critical to have strong cybersecurity measures to avoid this from happening. You can also consider a security compliance report to keep your drive in maintaining enhanced security. 

Disruption of Operations 

Another cost of neglecting security is severe operational disruption. When a cyberattack is successful, there will be downtime and/or system outages. These can put critical processes to pause, which can result in lost productivity and missed deadlines. 

Major Financial Losses

Everything mentioned above comes down to this—major financial losses. Losing your stakeholders means also losing the investments that you need to run your startup business. And when your customers go back to being prospects or worst, become your haters, you’ll lose your profit.

Additionally, restoring your systems and business recovery can be very expensive. If you have no one to seek help from, there’s a high chance of business closure. The statistics actually show that 60% of small businesses close within six months after getting hacked. Given these figures, you must step up your security game to ensure you can thrive for long years in the industry.

Legal Consequences

Besides the money you’ll need to spend to recover, you’ll also have to face legal consequences. As you know, today, the regulatory landscape that surrounds cybersecurity is quickly evolving. Stricter data protection and privacy laws are being imposed by governments and industry regulators, holding companies accountable for protecting sensitive data. Non-compliance can result in legal actions, heavy fines, and business closure. 

Given all these, it’s very crucial for startups to implement strong cybersecurity measures. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ll help you. Let’s take a closer look at a few cybersecurity policies that you can implement for your small business:

Best Cybersecurity Practices

Coming up with cybersecurity strategies can be difficult, considering that you’re all caught up with keeping your marketing efforts at their best. But there’s nothing to worry about because we’ve listed down some fundamental steps you can follow to ensure security in your business. Here are a few:

• Establish a comprehensive cybersecurity framework that is based on zero-trust principles
• Invest more money in training your employees about security and data management
• Always update software, operating systems, firewalls, and antivirus programs regularly
• Limit access to sensitive information
• Use complex passwords and change them from time to time
• Implement access management tools, like single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Always encrypt your data and always have a backup
• Dispose of data that’s not being used anymore
• Conduct regular risk and vulnerability assessments 
• Proactively monitor your current strategies and update as needed

The Bottom Line

Now more than ever, it’s very critical to take the necessary precautions to protect your business, especially if you’re just starting to build your name in the industry. If you choose to neglect, there’s nothing you can do but face the consequences, such as being a victim of a data breach, losing your brand reputation, disrupting your operations, losing a lot of money, and facing legal action. 
We hope this blog opened your eyes to the importance of security in running a business.