Cybersecurity breaches have cost many organizations some of their largest clients. While most organizations quickly hire legal experts, public relations teams, and a cyber security firm like CyberSecOp, the reputation damages have already begun. For example, your client may not have access to your services for hours before you realize that your system was affected.
Prime attack time
Attackers are strategic with time selection to minimize their activities being seen by employees. Most attackers operate on weekends or at night, knowing that most organizations’ employees do not access or monitor systems at this time.
When does reputation damage begin?
Reputation issues may begin long before the organization knows about an attacker. Some attackers disclose information on social media so that the organization will act quickly to their demands. Most cybercriminals spend an average of three months on clients’ systems before they act, but by this point, they may have already sold your data on the dark web or to your competitor.
Disclosing sensitive information violates privacy policies and requirements such as CCPA, GDPR, and some states’ and countries’ data protection regulations or requirements. The data disclosed may also include clients and your client’s customer information, putting your clients at risk. They, too, need to report the breach to their customers and provide the necessary protection to protect their customer’s credit and identity.
Reputation damage extends to your client.
At this point, not only is your organization’s reputation is in jeopardy, but also the reputation of your client and your client’s customers. All of these expenditures may be a liability to your organization if the breach is on your side, especially if there is evidence that you didn’t take due care regarding your organization’s security posture.
Conclusion
Defense-in-depth security program
Having a defense-in-depth security program such as those offered by CyberSecOp, cannot only save your business money but can also help you compete against other companies that have not implemented a security program. Most organizations have implemented a vendor management program to mitigate their threat against a third-party risk. A security program that includes third-party risk management is critical to identifying and remediating internal and external threats.
