Is your business prepared to take on the costs of a significant data breach?
No business wants to suffer a data breach. But unfortunately, in today’s environment, it’s difficult to completely avoid them. For example, in the USA approximately 83% of organisations have experienced more than one data breach. (IBM Security 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report)
These breaches hurt businesses in many ways. First, there is the immediate cost of remediating the breach. Then, there are the lost productivity costs. You can add lost business on top of that, and a loss in customer trust. A business could also have extensive legal costs associated with a breach.
According to IBM Security’s report, the cost of a data breach climbed again in 2022. The average global cost of one breach for a large company is now over €4 million, up 2.6% from the previous year. Costs for smaller companies tend to be a little lower. But breaches are often more devastating to SMEs. They don’t have the same resources that larger companies do to offset all those costs.
It’s estimated that 60% of small companies go out of business within six months of a cybersecurity breach.
Companies don’t need to resign themselves to the impending doom of a data breach. There are some proven tactics they can take to mitigate the costs. These cybersecurity practices can limit the damage of a cyberattack.
Cybersecurity Tactics to Reduce the Impact of a Breach
Use a Hybrid Cloud Approach
Most organisations use the cloud for data storage and business processes. Researchers found that 45% of all data breaches happen in the cloud. Breaches in the public cloud cost significantly more than those in a hybrid cloud. What is a hybrid cloud? It means that some data and processes are in a public cloud, and some are in a private cloud environment.
Put in Place an Incident Response Plan & Use It
You don’t need to be a large enterprise to create an incident response (IR) plan. The IR plan is simply a set of instructions. It’s for employees to follow should any number of cybersecurity incidents occur. Here is an example. In the case of ransomware, the first step should be disconnecting the infected device. IR plans improve the speed and effectiveness of a response in the face of a security crisis. Having a prepared incident response plan reduces the cost of a data breach.
Adopt a Zero Trust Security Approach
Zero trust is a collection of security protocols that work together to fortify a network. An example of a few of these are:
- Multi-factor authentication
- Application safe-listing
- Contextual user authentication
Adopting a ‘zero trust’ approach can significantly reduce data breach costs. Organisations that don’t deploy zero trust tactics pay about $1 million more per data breach.
Use Tools with Security AI & Automation
Using the right security tools can make a big difference in the cost incurred during a data breach. Using tools that deploy security AI and automation deliver the biggest cost savings. These types of solutions include advanced threat protection tools and can also include applications that hunt out threats and automate the response.
How to Get Started Improving Your Cyber Resilience
These methods will help to mitigate the damage of a data breach in a business, but it can be very difficult for a company owner to set up and monitor this process alone. You need both the experience and expertise to truly implement a workable solution.
Working with a trusted Managed Services IT provider will greatly enhance your ability to put together a security roadmap for your business. An MSP vendor will address the both “low-hanging fruit”issues and long-term security processes to help you create and implement a functioning incident response plan.
Need Help Improving Your Security & Reducing Risks For Your Business?
Working with a trusted IT partner takes a lot of the security burden off your shoulders. Give ITM Tech a call today to schedule a chat about a cybersecurity roadmap.
