No business is immune to cybersecurity threats, yet many small businesses aren't adequately protected. The Cyber Readiness Institute's (CRI) 2024 "The State of Cyber Readiness Among Small and Medium Sized Businesses" report shared that fewer than 1 in 5 small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have effective or somewhat effective cybersecurity measures in place.
If your SMB hasn't already adopted strong cybersecurity policies and plans, now is the time to prioritize doing so. Here's what business owners need to know to protect themselves from today's biggest threats.
[Read more: Cybersecurity Monitoring and Alerting: How To Know If You're at Risk]
Why small businesses should prioritize cybersecurity
Here are some compelling reasons to prioritize cybersecurity.
Financial incentives
Though it can be expensive to implement cybersecurity measures, particularly for SMBs, the long-term financial benefits are substantial. Government incentives like cybersecurity investment tax credits provide cost savings to companies that strengthen their cyber readiness.
Proactive cybersecurity efforts can also prevent potential security breaches, which cost U.S. businesses an average of $9.48 million per data breach in 2023. These breaches often require costly legal assistance and extensive publicity efforts to mitigate.
Businesses that prioritize cyber readiness often qualify for lower insurance premiums. Additionally, avoiding regulatory penalties for not having enacted cybersecurity measures can save you substantial sums of money.
Competitive advantages
Implementing cybersecurity measures ensures that your business is protected against cyberthreats and malicious actors. This helps prevent network outages and data breaches that could otherwise devastate your brand's reputation and customer base.
Strong security measures are also crucial if an employee leaves your SMB for a competitor. With the right security measures in place, SMBs can trust that their sensitive data, intellectual property, and other confidential information are protected and inaccessible to unauthorized parties, allowing them to remain competitive regardless of personnel changes.
Future-proofing your business
By increasing your business's cybersecurity, you're investing in the long-term health of your business. Implementing cybersecurity measures helps secure your business from future attacks and vulnerabilities.
Investing in cybersecurity benefits your customers, too. Many cybersecurity programs offer reporting options that include insights about the security status of your data. By implementing these programs, it can help build trust among your customers by demonstrating that you value customer data and have taken concrete measures to keep it safe.
Operational resilience
Businesses exchange vast amounts of data daily that expose them to various cyberthreats. From malware to phishing attacks and even insider threats, businesses are always at risk. However, effective cybersecurity measures shield businesses from these threats.
By understanding how cybersecurity preparedness keeps your business safe and implementing concrete plans, your business can remain strong and continue operations during cyber incidents instead of shutting down completely to address and resolve the situation.
[Read more: Using Your Cell Phone to Run Your Business? 5 Security Concerns to Know About]
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