Nowadays, it is necessary for companies of all types and sizes to prioritise cybersecurity, especially as the number of cybersecurity threats and their sophistication increase by the day. As a matter of fact, many companies in Singapore deal with an average of 54 cybersecurity incidents on a day-to-day basis, with 39% facing 50 to 200 such incidents each day. 

These cybersecurity attacks can lead to enormous losses of up to 10% of a company’s revenue. As such, companies must strengthen their cyber defence and enhance the security of their data in order to avoid catastrophic losses. They need to adopt a multifaceted information security strategy that covers networks, applications, servers, cloud, workstations, and data. 

For instance, in Singapore, data diodes are increasingly becoming popular in view of the rising cases and complexity of cybersecurity threats. Data diode by ST Engineering specifically ensures businesses that their data is safe from leakage by separating the power supply to prevent side-channel attacks. In other words, data diodes guarantee unidirectional information exchange as a way to protect confidential data and sensitive systems.

To better understand why it is important for every business to amplify their cybersecurity measures, read on as this article enumerates some of the major implications of not having a robust information security strategy.

• Operational Disruption

Among the most common schemes used by black hat hackers is to infiltrate and access the system and core datasets of a company, and then later on ask for ransom money. Most of the time, this results in the shutting down of the company’s whole IT infrastructure and crucial business systems to isolate the damage, investigate, and facilitate recovery. 

For companies with no basic disaster recovery procedures, recuperating from the cyberattack and recovering their lost data may take a few weeks or even months. These disruptions to the operations of a business can adversely affect productivity and have a trickle-down impact, i.e., clients may eventually leave the company, thereby resulting in additional revenue loss.

• Financial Loss

Whether directly or indirectly, all cyberattacks can adversely impact the company’s finances in various shapes and forms. Among the primary considerations are business loss, efforts in containing the breach or attack, legal fines and fees, payouts as compensation to customers, and potential reduction in share price, which is even more for publicly listed companies.

Data breaches usually come with long-lasting implications on businesses in the form of lower sales moving forward and client abandonment. A classic example of this is the 2017 Equifax data breach in which over 140 million individuals were affected, leading to a total of $380 million in compensation funds. Oftentimes, businesses that suffer a major data breach go out of business for a couple of months or even indefinitely.

• Legal Ramifications

Data breaches involving the personal information of a company’s clients, partners, or prospects can result in lawsuits. Over the past couple of years, these kinds of lawsuits have been regularly featured in business and technology news across the world. Not only are they costly, but they can also affect a company’s operations, finances, and overall survival.

Lawsuits can essentially impact a business in several ways, such as incurring unplanned, hefty legal fees, minimising its attractiveness in the eyes of top talents, lowering people’s trust and confidence in its offerings, and tarnishing its reputation. If the affected company engages in a regulated business, they may even be restricted from carrying out certain operations until the conclusion of legal investigations.

Conclusion

Not having a solid information security strategy exposes a business to numerous risks that can have devastating after-effects in the areas of operations, finances, and legal compliance. For this reason, it is quite necessary for every company to protect themselves against malicious attacks by taking appropriate preventive measures and strengthening their overall cyber defence, especially in today’s information age.

Should you require powerful information security solutions to help protect your organisation from data breaches and other cybersecurity threats, Allied Solutions is here to assist you! We have a team of seasoned experts who can help you find the ideal cybersecurity solutions that meet your specific industrial needs. 

Aside from cybersecurity solutions, we offer other products and services that are designed to help improve your business processes and increase your profit, such as Parsec’s TrakSYS Software, GE’s Proficy Historian, Stratus’ everRUN, Kepware’s KEPserverEX, and many more. For more information, do not hesitate to reach out to us anytime.