Top 4 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Network Security Services Now
Businesses must protect their networks and data against cyberattacks, including phishing, malware, and ransomware. These attacks can damage a business’s reputation, finances, and intellectual property. Network security services can help businesses safeguard their confidential information against hackers. These services include firewalls, encryption, and access controls. They also provide a unified threat management solution for rapid detection and response to threats.
Damage to Your Reputation
The damage from a data breach or cyberattack can have long-term consequences for your business’ reputation. Not only will you lose valuable clients, but your reputation can be damaged by losing the trust of your employees, vendors, and partners. This can lead to a decline in sales and even cause your business to close.
Effective network security service protects your business’s assets, data, and applications from cyberattacks. This can include a variety of software and hardware technologies to prevent unauthorized access or use of your IT systems. A managed security service company can be responsible for these technologies, minimizing costs and freeing your team to focus on core objectives.
Some examples of network security solutions include data loss prevention tools, which prevent staff from uploading or downloading private files, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) prevention tools, which peruse incoming connections and filter out illegitimate ones. The right network security solution can also improve your regulatory compliance posture by automatically updating systems and ensuring that all aspects of your IT environment are monitored for adherence to standards like PCI, SOX, and others.
Increased Risk of Cyber Attacks
Hackers have an increased attack surface to target as businesses rely more on remote workstations, the cloud, and other IoT devices. Additionally, a compromised employee’s device can introduce malware into the business network, potentially leading to data loss and other consequences. A network security solution that includes access control, threat detection and response, and endpoint protection helps reduce the risk of these attacks.
In addition to stealing customer information, cyberattacks can halt operations or render systems unusable for lengthy periods. This impedes productivity and customer service, negatively impacting revenue and financial stability. The damage caused by a cyberattack also requires substantial investments in remediation, legal procedures, and reputational repair. This drains company resources and diverts them from critical strategic initiatives.
Although cyberattacks may seem like something only large corporations need to worry about, smaller organizations are more likely to be targeted because they lack larger companies’ resources and infrastructure. This makes them a prime target for cybercriminals looking to profit from a quick and easy payout. In the case of a cyberattack, the hidden costs often include incident response fees, legal fees, and regulatory fines.
Data Loss
The data your company collects and stores is important for day-to-day operations. However, if that data is lost, the effects can be far-reaching.
Most companies realize there is a risk of data loss due to cyber attacks or natural disasters that can destroy or flood their facilities. Still, they also have to worry about information falling into the wrong hands through human error or environmental factors. This can be as simple as an employee leaving a company document in a public area or accidentally deleting the files on a computer without knowing it could affect other employees, customers, or clients.
In addition to protecting against hackers and intentional data loss, network security services should also provide granular visibility into what and how employees access and share information. Providing employees with stricter password protection requirements and monitoring their activity on company devices can help reduce the likelihood of data leaks through hacking or human error.
A data loss incident can also damage a business’s reputation. If a customer’s private information is leaked or destroyed, they may take their business elsewhere. It is vital for businesses that depend on their data and IT services to inform customers of a breach or loss so they can regain trust.
Financial Loss
Network security services help your business provide products and services safely and reliably. Without these services, you could suffer a data breach that exposes your employees, customers, and partners to ransomware, viruses, hackers, and other threats. These threats could have a wide range of financial consequences, from lost revenue to debilitating outages that impact customer satisfaction and brand image.
When you rely on a managed security service provider (MSSP), they’ll ensure that their suite of tools is aligned with your unique environment and objectives. This saves you money by eliminating the purchase and management of unnecessary hardware and software, and it improves performance by not bogging down your system with redundant tools.
As cyber-attacks become more sophisticated, they can have more profound and far-reaching effects than ever before. For example, an attack on a communications infrastructure may cause mass synchronized ATM withdrawals that drain bank accounts or damage the equipment used by electric utilities, potentially leading to blackouts across the country. For many businesses, especially those that handle large sums of money, cyberattacks significantly threaten their bottom line. With more and more transactions occurring online, these attacks can cost businesses millions in lost revenue each year. A cyberattack on a banking or financial institution will likely cause irreparable damage to the company’s reputation and hefty fines.