Companies of all sizes that do some or all of their business online might want to think about the dangers inherent to any kind of internet activity these days. There are a lot of risks out there for these companies to consider – even if they think it’s one of those, “It can’t happen to us,” issues many business owners will occasionally read about. However, the fact of the matter is that not only can bad things happen, but there are in fact very few businesses they don’t end up impacting.
For this reason, companies like graphic design firms, or even independent graphic designers, might want to think about the risks that may arise as a result of a hacking attack. This is certainly the kind of incident that can land a business in the headlines, and it has actually happened quite a bit over the course of the last few years. In fact, plenty of data shows these kinds of attacks are becoming more common.
How does it happen?
Data breaches can occur in any number of ways, from the sophisticated hacking attacks that lead to major incidents for national chains like Target or the Home Depot, to simple issues like an employee accidentally emailing a file with sensitive data to someone, or taking home a laptop with important information. But when it comes to hacking attacks, it seems that criminals are now starting to target small businesses with greater regularity these days, and the reason why is simple to understand: Big companies invest millions in security, while small ones often can’t spend much, if anything, on such measures.
So while the reward for successfully hacking a major corporation is obviously going to be much bigger, the amount of work that has to be put into it – plus the risk of getting caught by security experts and law enforcement put on the case afterwards – may not make the effort “worth it.” For small companies, the reward may only be a few thousand dollars worth of information, but many of these independent firms can be cracked with ease. Often, all it takes is a single successful phishing scheme, or something that isn’t going to be much more complicated than that.
What can be done?
Unfortunately for graphic designers, whether incorporated or independent, data suggests that a lot of the time, a data breach is unavoidable. The vast majority of small business owners say their firms have suffered at least one. And while they’re not necessarily going to be extremely harmful, the fact is that they could be costly nonetheless. That’s because many states now have requirements in place that dictate how businesses should handle data breaches and their fallout, including alerting those affected by it to the risk they now face and, in many cases, paying to protect them financially.
Consequently, entrepreneurs might want to think about the benefits of finding the best small business insurance for these kinds of incidents, known as tech insurance. This can help to insulate them from potentially tens of thousands in breach-related costs.
