In a digital age, data security is more important than ever. With data being collected, stored, and analyzed at an increasing rate, sensitive consumer information has become highly valuable to hackers and scammers.
A data breach can wreak havoc on your company’s marketing efforts, so it’s important to know what to do when one occurs.
What Makes Data Breaches so Dangerous?
Data breaches occur when sensitive data is accessed without authorization. This can come in the form of a hacker gaining access to your systems, or an employee physically stealing data.
Data breaches can be dangerous for a number of reasons.
1. Reputational damage
In order to expand their customer bases and provide unique experiences to their customers, many businesses have turned to online marketing platforms.
Customers are more willing than ever to share personal information with trustworthy companies in exchange for premium quality, highly tailored service.
This indicates that corporations are increasingly gathering, processing, and maintaining enormous amounts of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) about their consumers, making them accountable for the data’s protection.
The consequences of a data breach, especially if it compromises the safety of customer information, can be severe and long-lasting. Data breaches expose sensitive consumer data to the world, so your company risks being associated with scams and fraud.
What’s the end result going to be? Brand value, market capitalization, and marketing activity all incur significant losses.
2. Legal ramifications
With data breaches, there may also be legal ramifications. The Federal Trade Commission has fined several companies for security breaches. Additionally, companies could face criminal charges for unauthorized access to consumer information.
Because of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which was implemented in 2018 and has made this scenario considerably more difficult, greater fines may be applied following a significant data breach.
3. Financial losses
Data breaches can have rapid financial consequences that are challenging for modern businesses to deal with. Many data breaches involve customer data, and this data often contains credit card numbers or bank account information.
A breach of this type can place a significant financial burden on the company. Not only can you be forced to pay damages to affected customers, but you should also expect to face lawsuits from customers whose information was compromised.
4. System downtime
Finally, data breaches can significantly disrupt your systems, especially if hackers exploit vulnerabilities to gain access to your platforms. In the worst-case scenario, your entire system could be shut down and you may have to start dealing with data recovery efforts.
How to Protect Your Reputation in the Event of a Data Breach
Marketers must collaborate more closely with IT and security teams as the digital world grows more sophisticated and riskier in terms of collecting and utilizing customer data. A company’s brand reputation may be safeguarded if its marketing activities focus on providing both value and security.
1. Understand your risks
Every company is different, and the risks you face may vary depending on your industry, company size, and target customer base. Identifying and assessing your risks can help you implement the right security measures for protecting your brand reputation.
For example, companies that process credit cards or government-issued identification cards are exposed to greater risks of data breaches than others. Depending on your risks, you may prioritize the security of user data, intellectual property, or your company’s financial systems.
2. Know which regulations apply to you
Understanding what regulations apply to you can help you develop the right security strategy. Data breach regulations differ from state to state, and from industry to industry.
For example, companies that store data related to health or finances are subject to different regulations than those that store other types of data. Implementing proper data archiving practices for your industry is crucial to ensuring regulatory compliance so that you don’t face fines or litigation.
3. Take inventory of your resources and assets
Make sure you understand your data. Know where it is, who has access to it, and how to protect it.
This will help you allocate your resources more efficiently and figure out what’s worth protecting and what’s not.
4. Implement precautions
In order to protect your brand reputation, you should implement precautionary measures. These measures may include the following:
- Backup your data regularly
- Encrypt sensitive data
- Update your system regularly
- Limit access to data
- Implement access control measures
- Restrict physical access to data
- Educate employees about the importance of data protection and information security
5. Work closely with your IT team
Marketers need to work more closely with their IT teams, as they’re responsible for implementing and managing security measures.
IT and marketing should work together to protect users’ data and maintain security, while marketing should leverage the data to their benefit.
Marketers should assist IT teams by understanding the value of data, recommending which data is important to protect, and identifying how that data can be used, while IT teams should help marketing understand how data should be protected.
6. Create a cybersecurity culture
Marketers need to broaden their definition of their job to include more than just bringing in new clients. During a cyber crisis, they must find a strategy to sell their product or service while protecting their company’s reputation.
As a part of this shift in perspective, the company as a whole should adopt a security-oriented culture. The regular and persistent emphasis on the strategic importance of cybersecurity in marketing operations can help.
Thus, a corporation can guarantee that security is a shared responsibility of all departments, not simply IT.
7. Have a plan in the event of a data breach
Data breaches can be extremely disruptive, so it’s crucial to have a plan in place. This includes a contingency plan, either for security or other operational issues that could impact your marketing efforts.
Incorporating security into your online marketing plan is essential. Your company should develop a comprehensive approach to security that addresses both internal processes and external risks.
Now it’s your turn
As data breaches become more common, your company will be exposed to increased risk. The consequences of a data breach can be devastating, so it’s crucial that marketers take cybersecurity seriously.
By collaborating with IT and data security teams, you can develop a comprehensive plan for protecting your company’s reputation in the event of a data breach.
