What’s the cost of a cyberattack?

When something happens often, it is easy to take a laissez faire approach. After all, if it seems inevitable, it may feel better to just let it happen and deal with the repercussions afterward. But if you’re lackadaisical when it comes to cybersecurity, the exorbitant cost may be more than your business can fare. We break down how much a cyberattack costs businesses and why an investment in prevention is a wise choice.

The hard cost.

Does your business have $4.3 million at its disposal? According to IBM’s 2022 report, that’s the average total cost of a data breach in the United States. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that the overall cost will only continue to rise, with the 2025 global cost exceeding $10 trillion annually. This includes the cost of any potential ransom, lost revenue during business interruptions and the cost of professional partners needed to recover your information.

No business is immune – small businesses are in the sights of cybercriminals just as much as larger corporations. And while larger companies have the means to purchase cyberinsurance and have a team of experts to manage the data recovery process, smaller companies have to dig deeper into their pockets to recover. As a result, the National Cybersecurity Alliance estimates that up to 60% of small businesses that experience a security breach close within a year of the attack.  

The ripple effect.

Putting the dollars and cents aside, your entire team bears the cost of a cyberattack. Their time has to immediately shift away from their responsibilities and toward recovery. They lose productivity and your progress toward objectives comes to a screeching halt. They may have to take time to explain the breach to clients and customers, and they will likely have to attend additional training to prevent future attacks. If your data wasn’t properly backed up, your team may lose recent documents and have to duplicate efforts to hit deliverables. The frustration and animosity an attack can build among your team is an enormous cost to bear.

The immeasurable loss.

If you have to let clients know that their personal data is at risk because you’ve experienced an attack, you’re experiencing the greatest type of loss that stems from a cyberattack – a hit to your reputation. While this might be measurable through lost future revenue, you can never truly track how sentiment and trust have eroded between you and your customers. Rebuilding relationships and earning new business can be challenging after a cyberbreach, especially if you were caught unprepared.

The cost of a cyberattack far outweighs the cost of taking appropriate measures to prevent one. The team at ProTech can provide you with the hardware and training needed to create a layered protection strategy, keeping your data safe and mitigating losses that happen in the case of a minor breach.

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