Here are 6 ways cyberattacks can hurt your business

Cyberattacks have become more frequent and dangerous in our world today. Businesses, regardless of size or industry, are prime targets for cybercriminals. These attacks can cause widespread damage and create long-lasting consequences.

Here are 6 ways cyberattacks can hurt your business, according to Kaspersky:

Financial losses

Cyberattacks often result in direct financial losses. Ransomware attacks, where hackers demand payment to restore access to data or steal funds directly, are a clear example. However, Kaspersky notes that there are numerous other consequences that may result in considerable indirect financial losses. These can easily exceed what the company has lost as an immediate outcome of the incident.

Operational disruption

Cyberattacks can grind a company’s operations to a halt. Many businesses depend on their digital infrastructure for daily activities. If systems are compromised, productivity falls. In severe cases, entire operations may be disrupted for days or weeks, resulting in lost revenue, diminished service quality, and disappointed clients and partners — an additional impact on your company’s reputation.

Indirect long-term costs

Even following the immediate aftermath of a cyberattack, businesses often face long-term financial impacts. Restoring systems, improving cybersecurity infrastructure, and managing the legal fallout are just some of the lingering costs. Also, rebuilding lost business and damaged customer relationships can take months or years.

Reputational damage

As a business owner, the trust clients place in you is invaluable. If customer data is stolen in a breach, it can severely damage your brand’s reputation. This loss of trust can lead to customers leaving and a long-term decline in business. In some cases, a single breach is enough to ruin a company’s public image beyond repair.

An attack on the business can also impact the owner’s relationships with partners and vendors. Third-party partners might lose confidence in the owner’s ability to protect shared data. Similarly, business-critical relationships could be jeopardised if the business fails to recover quickly or systems compromise their operations.

Read also: Africa worst hit as cyberattacks surge 30% globally

Legal and compliance issues

Data breaches can lead to heavy fines. Failing to protect sensitive customer or employee data may result in penalties and lawsuits. Furthermore, companies that fall victim to breaches often face lengthy legal battles, which add to the financial and reputational strain.

Loss of intellectual property

Intellectual property (IP) is among many businesses’ most valuable assets. Cyberattacks targeting IP can steal product designs, marketing strategies, and proprietary information. This is particularly harmful in competitive industries like technology and pharmaceuticals, where IP theft can erase the advantage a company has spent years building.

“Attackers are never idle – they are like wolves who must be constantly active to catch their prey off-guard. So, companies need to be ever more alert and agile. They must be sure they have the right solutions and processes to allow for effective threat discovery and containment, as well as swift recovery,” said Oleg Gorobets, Security Evangelist at Kaspersky.

Overall, Kaspersky offered some solutions to help businesses stay ahead of cyber threats and remain resilient.

It said, “Businesses must always keep software updated on all the devices to prevent attackers from infiltrating your network by exploiting vulnerabilities.”

It added that to protect against a wide range of threats, companies should use robust solutions that provide real-time protection, threat visibility, and investigation and response capabilities for organisations of any size and industry.

“For the protection of very small businesses, use solutions intended to help you manage your cybersecurity even without having an IT administrator on board,” it stated

It noted further that it is important to educate employees on protecting against human-related cyberattacks and setting up offline backups that intruders cannot tamper with.

“Make sure you can quickly access them in an emergency when needed and conduct cybersecurity audits regularly,” the cybersecurity firm added.