There were a few massive data breaches in 2022 that further prove the point that no company, big or small, is safe from a data breach. A shocking statistic is that data breaches were up by 14% compared to a year ago.

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The significant data breaches were:

  • PressReader’s data breach prevented them from running publications for newspapers like the New York Times.
  • Cash App had an attack from a previous employee, and they took sensitive financial information, portfolio values, account numbers and more.
  • The Red Cross had a data breach that put the information of 500,000 at risk – specifically the Restoring Family Link’s service, which reconnected people separated through violence, migration and war.
  • Microsoft was targeted in March 2022 and compromised both Bing and Cortana, however, Microsoft stopped the attack very quickly, and only one account was compromised.
  • Crypto.com saw almost 500 people’s wallets targeted, and $18 million worth of bitcoin and $15 million Ethereum plus others stolen.

With such a wide range of attacks, and in each case, something was stolen, data breaches are uncommon – but there are things you can do to prevent one. Keep in mind that you should work with data security companies that are aware of any legislation updates and keep your business protected from changes that you might notice, like the change from ISO 27001:2013 to ISO 27001:2022 and how it impacts you.

How does a data breach impact your business?

We know that a data breach is when a hacker or hackers break into your systems using any vulnerable points and access information, files and products. Sometimes they take them; other times, they break them. While some data breaches can be in your system in less than a minute when they find the vulnerable part of your system, it can take many business weeks to find them.

The exception to this is that cyber security finds the breach at speed because they are running regular checks.

But what are the real impacts of a data breach?

Intellectual Property

While customer data is usually one of the most sought-after items in an attack, it’s not just that at risk. The IP of your business can be taken too. This is particularly difficult for smaller companies to recover from because it can mean plans, contracts, reports, and designs can be taken. These items can be sold to competitors or made public rendering them useless to you.

Trust

If your clients, customers, and other businesses can’t trust you, you are in for a rough ride. It will cost a lot in terms of time and money to dampen the fires that a data breach causes. The immediate and long-term revenue loss that comes with a data breach is enough to sink many smaller companies.

Cost

The true cost of a data breach will be high upfront, but it will also mean you will need to spend time and money to get to the root of the vulnerability, possibly changing and updating systems or moving to a more reputable cybersecurity company.

An overhaul of your security measures isn’t usually cheap, but it is on the cost that it is important you make room for.

As well as those costs, the downtime you will need to take as the investigations are done, reimbursement to clients and customers, and doubling down on good PR and management.

Fines

Aside from the costs up until this point, your business will be issued with fines that are applicable to the data breach. The exact fine will depend on what the breach falls under and where your business is based. Here are a couple of examples of the fines that some companies have had after their data breaches:

  • Didi Global was given a $1.19 billion fine
  • $877 was given to Amazon for incorrect GDPR protocols
  • Equifax was hit with a $575 million fine after the information of 150 million people was lost in
  • Instagram was given a $403 million fine for violating children’s privacy
  • Meta was landed with $277 million for the compromising of 500 million user data
  • Google Ireland was hit with a $102 million (90 million Euro) fine due to cookie consent procedures

Data breaches can have a long-lasting and very negative impact on your business. Ensuring that you have the right measures in place is one of the things you can do to protect your business and your customers long-term. Here are some other tips for what you could be doing to keep your company safe: Stupid Mistakes You Could Be Making With Your Cybersecurity.