Page 144 - Cyber Defense eMagazine March 2024

There’s also the price of lost business to consider. Both B2C and B2B brands are likely to lose customers
if they experience a publicized data breach.

Protecting Consumer Data

Cybersecurity is also a matter of consumer privacy. Businesses today hold vast amounts of potentially
sensitive data on their clientele. Without proper protections, that practice could needlessly expose
consumers to financial damage or privacy breaches.

Corporate data breaches affected over 360 million people in the first eight months of 2023 alone. These
events can put consumers’ bank information and identities at risk, making thorough cybersecurity a
pressing social issue.

These threats apply to internal processes, too. If companies don’t take cybersecurity seriously, they may
expose their employees’ personal information to attack. No enterprise can safely claim to stand up for its
staff or customers with that level of risk.

Preserving Business Relationships

Similarly, cybersecurity is crucial to maintaining a firm’s responsibilities to its partner organizations. In
today’s hyper-connected world, poor security is never an entirely internal issue. Vulnerabilities in one part
of the supply chain affect all other connected parties, so firms must be secure to ensure fair business
relationships.

The possibility of third-party risks can affect both existing and potential partnerships. Imagine a software
provider experienced an internal breach that, in turn, exposed data from the businesses using their
platform. After the event, their current customers may switch providers and other companies will be less
willing to partner with them in fear of experiencing the same.

Over a third of fund managers say risk exposure is their biggest obstacle to closing deals. While
cybersecurity certainly isn’t the only risk factor, it’s increasingly prevalent as data becomes more mission-
critical.

Ensuring Continued Operations

Another reason why cybersecurity is crucial to business is many functions today rely on IT systems. If a
cyberattack took down a firm’s internal network, it wouldn’t be able to fulfill its core operations until
restoring it.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – March 2024 Edition 144
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