Staying Safe in The Age of Data Breaches

The Cost of Faulty Data Security

A recent IBM study found that on average, data breaches cost companies $4.24 million dollars on average globally. In the US, that number is even higher at $9.05 million as an average. This number has only increased over the years.Even worse, this does not include the damage to your reputation. Once data has been leaked, customers regain trust slowly. Critically, 27% of consumers would only trust a company again if they were financially compensated.Finally, the question is: Do you know how to protect your business and customers from a data breach?

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Identify Your Weak Areas

To start, there are many areas where your company could be attacked. Is it a buggy coding infrastructure? Lack of employee training? Outdated drivers? In truth, without proper research, you may miss critical parts of a good security system. Ensure that proper research is done into weak points in your company. Whether it's an internal team or a trustworthy third party, spend time identifying where your company's security could be improved.

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Keep your Software & Hardware Updated

Another common cause of data breaches are outdated tech tools. The IBM study from earlier found that "Organizations further along in their cloud modernization strategy contained the breach on average 77 days faster than those in the early stage of their modernization journey."For example, reduce risk by updating your business's operating systems. Unfortunately, older operating systems do not have the anti-virus software to deal with modern viruses and risks.Construction Executive recommends automating your updates. This way any required restarts or computer downtime can happen when no one is working.

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Give Your Tech Team Necessary Tools

Construction IT teams state that they have control over just 52% of their endpoints—the fewest of any industry. This lack of control means IT has no idea what version of the OS, patches, drivers or software are installed, and worse yet, end users may have free reign to install whatever they choose.

Sumir Karayi Founder and CEO 1ESimple IT Strategies

"To Keep Cyber Attacks at Bay It's true that in the construction industry, companies lag behind with technology. Additionally, you may feel it's not evident why IT departments need certain spending. However, you must make sure your own developers can spot new changes. They can only spot potential threats with good data protection tools. Even worse, an overworked team may not be able to pivot and address it. In the end, the faster they identify and tackle problems, the less money you will lose. Better yet, an agile team with up-to-date tools will be able to head off problems before they even happen. To sum it up- when you give IT teams more resources, everyone benefits."

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Educate Employees

Of course, it can't all be up to the tech team. For example, IBM found that breaches caused by business emails cost on average $5.01 million USD. Additionally, phishing caused $4.65 million in damages on average. Companies mitigate this type of damage by educating employees. This way, employees avoid non-legitimate emails, pop-ups and other malware.

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React Quickly to Data Breaches & Risks

Lastly, when an issue is spotted, don't waste too much time. It is important that leadership and tech get on the same page quickly. Unfortunately, data breaches can and will happen, so when they do, it is critical that all teams take required steps to fix the issue. Otherwise, the cost of damages will only rise.Once the immediate threat is neutralized, leadership and involved employees should enact better security. While reacting quickly can cut off unnecessary expenses, working together to avoid as many problems as possible is ideal.

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How can Flashtract Help Your Company?

At Flashtract, we're all about helping construction businesses get their billing done faster. But by doing that, we're also helping modernize the way your keep your billing and compliance records. You won't have to send potentially sensitive financial info or contract documents back and forth through emails anymore. At Flashtract, we generate documents right in our software. And all of that data is stored securely, right on the cloud.

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Ready to automate and modernize your billing? Schedule a demo today.

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