Lack of Cybersecurity Urgency is the Biggest Threat to Massachusetts Businesses

Cyberthreats are a considerable problem to your business, regardless of what size it is. There are more threats than ever before, and cybercriminals treat their profession like an aggressive business. Let’s examine why this makes your organization’s cybersecurity such an important priority.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, But Don’t Let That Fool You—Cybersecurity Needs to Be Taken Seriously Every Single Day.

Cybersecurity needs to be treated with urgency, as if it’s a fire. This is not a drill. Do not pass go! Tread extremely lightly! Safety first! 

(You get the idea.)

Let’s take a look at some statistics.

For instance, were you aware that the average cost of a data breach reached $4.35 million this year? That’s according to data compiled in the 2022 IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report, which was put together by IBM and the Ponemon Institute. The report detailed how this $4.35 million was commonly broken up.

The majority of costs associated with data breaches came from detection and escalation processes, with lost business close behind. The costs of post-breach responses contributed a smaller percentage, while the notification costs were chump change.

However, it is important to acknowledge that there are also costs associated with downtime to factor.

Downtime Hits Companies Where it Hurts—Their Wallets

While downtime has never been cheap, the costs have increased significantly over the past few years. According to the Uptime Institute’s 2022 Outage Analysis Report, 60% of outages now cost more than $100,000. In 2019, however, only 39% reached that threshold.

Plus, immediate revenue loss isn’t the only consideration when it comes to downtime and its impacts. Downtime also means you lose productivity, could very well lose data, and will likely take a hit to your business’ reputation.

Can’t Cyber Insurance Help?

Potentially, but it isn’t something you want to bet the farm on. From policy exclusions, fault landing on third parties, poor preventative measures, or even just insufficient documentation of your network protections, there are many reasons that your provider could deny your claim.

No, The Size of Your Business Doesn’t Make You Immune to Threats

It doesn’t matter if you are a major food processing facility with 10,000 employees, a town municipality with just a thousand residents, a school with 50 faculty members, or a one-person CPA. Businesses and organizations of all shapes and sizes in Massachusetts can easily be attacked, breached, and exploited by cybercriminals. Your size and revenue doesn’t really change the payoff compared to the effort for a cybercriminal. 

Cybersecurity Needs to be Treated with Urgency!

Fortunately, we can help you manage all of this, as well as help you maintain a higher standard for your cybersecurity—which again, we cannot overstate how important it is. Reach out today at (774) 213-9701 to discuss how we can help simplify this complicated process for you.