The advancement of technology has brought us, in addition to solutions that make our routine easier, several threats that can cause harm to business. Every day, organizations are prone to suffering scams and attacks that bring countless damages to their image and reputation in the market. An example of this is the leakage of information which, in addition to harming customers and partners, damages the institutional image of a business . For this reason, risk management must be a priority.
It is necessary for companies to adopt a contingency plan to help deal with this type of event. A risk management plan is no longer an option but a priority for companies of all sizes and segments.
Even the simplest incident can be reflected in the results of a business and directly impact its growth. Even contamination by a virus or malicious software has the potential to turn into a real crisis, making it necessary for the company to prepare to deal with this type of situation.
Any business that deals with technology to maintain its activities needs to have information security as a primary characteristic. The number of cybercriminals increases every day, so it is important to know how risk management can help your company and ensure that your reputation remains intact.
There are numerous types of cyber attacks that can harm a business. Depending on the cyber criminal's objective, this attack can be aimed at:
- Information theft;
- Leakage of confidential data;
- Contamination of devices used by the company;
- Data hijacking;
- Interruption of activities;
- And much more.
Security breaches cause an immense impact on the image and costs for the business, as it will be necessary to cover possible ransom requests, device maintenance , among other measures to repair the damage caused.
Famous data leak cases
In recent years, cyber attacks have gained a lot of visibility, mainly due to the impact caused by these actions. Below are some companies that suffered this type of attack and had their image significantly damaged in the market:
In June 2012, the social network LinkedIn suffered a data leak in 2012, which resulted in the exposure of data from more than 117 million users. Cybercriminals leaked personal data, emails and passwords.
Facebook and Cambridge Analytica
Cambridge Analytica obtained data from 50 million Facebook users, using this information to illegally carry out numerous behavioral tests for the campaign of former United States President Donald Trump.
HERE
In 2018, C&A suffered a huge leak of customer data, with 2 million pieces of customer data disclosed.
Amazon
In 2021, Amazon was fined €746 million by the Luxembourg National Data Protection Commission due to data protection failures.
The impact of a lack of internet security
Failing to invest in information security ends up becoming much more expensive than allocating resources to this type of protection. This is because the consequences caused by cyber attacks end up making the company need to pay for the necessary measures to resume its activity . Unfortunately, most companies only understand the importance of risk management when they go through a situation of this type.
Due to the immense demand for fast and efficient information exchange, businesses have been adopting technologies that enable the management of this data. These tools are constant targets for cybercriminals, who look for ways to divert information and generate profits through the hijacking of this data.
Preventive information security solutions help maintain business compliance and ensure that the company does not suffer from the impacts caused by cyber attacks. Below are the main problems faced due to the lack of efficient risk management:
Information theft
Data theft is among the main problems caused when you fail to invest in information security. In addition to making this data inaccessible by the business, cybercriminals can also demand the payment of a ransom to ensure that the company returns this information.
This type of cyber scam, in addition to causing substantial financial losses for the business, can also cause immense damage to the company's reputation. This is because your image will be damaged in the eyes of your competition and consumers.
Lack of confidentiality of information
Investing in measures that help increase data protection is an essential step for companies to adapt to the General Data Protection Law . This legislation brought us rules on the need to protect confidential and sensitive data from customers, partners and employees.
Failures in this process, in addition to impacting the company's image, can also generate punishments from LGPD supervisors . These punishments can range from warnings and suspension of activity, to exorbitant financial fines. In any case, this punishment will harm the company and its growth.
Interruption of activities
One of the punitive measures established by the General Data Protection Law is the interruption of business activities. Furthermore, the hijacking or blocking of a company's data may mean that it is unable to remain active until a solution is found .
Cybercriminals, through a scam known as ransomware , kidnap or block data, demanding that the victim company pay a ransom. Companies of all sizes have already suffered from this type of scam, and in many cases, it was necessary to pay for this extortion to be able to recover the information that was hijacked.
Loss of contracts
The breach of trust caused by information security problems can cause the company to stop doing business in the market. Once your reputation has been damaged by this security breach, it is very difficult to overcome the problem and regain your position in the competition.
The loss of contracts will cause your business to stop growing and end up losing its competitive positioning. Investing in risk management will help the company deal with these problems more intelligently and avoid damage caused by cyber threats .
Information leak
Just like other security problems, information leaks can also negatively impact the business's image among its customers and consumers. If we analyze the situation from the point of view of a potential customer, we can understand how a company that has suffered a security breach may not be the best option for doing business.
Our personal data is extremely valuable, and there needs to be great trust when exchanging this type of information with companies.
Corporate espionage
There is data that is stored by companies that is directly related to their strategy and commercial measures. Making this type of information available for general knowledge will cause numerous problems for the business.
Competitors can gain market advantages by knowing your corporate strategy . For this reason, it is essential to have resources that help protect this information and prevent cyber threats of this type from reaching your devices and networks.
How to implement efficient risk management
As we have seen, having a risk management protocol is essential to be able to deal with the main problems caused by cyber threats. Although many companies carry out risk management informally, it is necessary to have informed risk management built on a solid methodology.
It is important to remember that the risks to which companies are subject can come from both external and internal sources. This is because some behaviors and attitudes adopted by users can make information vulnerable to digital threats.
Taking this into consideration, we can understand that it is necessary for employees to understand the importance of adopting a preventive stance against these threats that surround the internet. To be able to establish efficient risk management, it is necessary to follow some basic steps, as we will see below:
- Planning: at this stage, managers must determine how risk management should be done within the company. It is time to choose the methodology to be applied and which tools are available for this risk management.
- Identification: based on well-structured research, managers must determine which risks the company is subject to , taking into account external and internal threats. This will allow the assessment of all uncertainties and aspects that may have an impact on the business.
- Qualitative analysis: once the main risks that could affect the company have been determined, it is necessary to determine the probability and impact that they can cause for the organization . With this, managers will be able to classify these risks according to their priority and possibility of loss.
- Quantitative analysis: following the same line of reasoning that qualitative analysis establishes, it is necessary to transform into precise and consistent data to investigate the probability and impacts that can be caused.
- Response planning: at this stage, managers must establish which strategies should be adopted in the face of a threat. This planning will help the company deal with problems sensibly and efficiently if they arise.
- Monitoring: once a risk management plan has been established, the company must constantly monitor the adequacy of preventive measures and expected behaviors. This way, it becomes easier to prevent problems from happening.
Use everything that technology can offer
Technology has brought us tools and resources aimed at greater practicality and efficiency in processes. It is important that the company knows how to use these resources to its advantage to ensure superior and smarter performance. There are automation tools that can help with risk management, error reduction and process efficiency.
It is possible to count on the help of technology to avoid both external and internal problems. An example of this are password management tools. Through them, managers are able to deal with some of the main causes of digital vulnerability within businesses, such as the creation of easy-to-deduce passwords, leakage of passwords that were written down, storing passwords in an insecure way, among others.
Taking into account that many of the security gaps within the company can be caused by the inappropriate behavior of certain employees when using the internet, access control tool could be the solution your company is looking for. The internet is full of threats and traps that can cause serious security problems, and controlling this tool can make all the difference in managing your business's risks.
Improper access during working hours can cause vulnerabilities that favor the action of cybercriminals. Through these security gaps, these criminals are able to invade networks and corrupt systems, causing countless losses.
Access control and internet security tools
There are several solutions and tools on the market aimed at controlling internet access. These features can help your company keep your employees out of trouble and ensure that information is more secure.
These optimized tools, aimed at improving access management within your organization, such as Lumiun Box and Lumiun DNS , can be valuable allies in your risk management process. With the correct tool , your company will be able to manage access during working hours and prevent employees from exposing their information to cyber scams.
No matter how familiar this employee is with digital tools, there is a great possibility that, in an unsuspecting way, he may end up favoring the actions of these criminals and expose the confidential information stored by his company.
Contact us and discover the best tool to ensure more efficient risk management within your company. The lack of internet security is an aspect that should be a priority within your business, in order to avoid the main problems it can cause for your business.
Until later!
