In today’s ever-growing digital landscape, the risk of cyber threats is more widespread than ever, making it a cause for worry among businesses.
With hackers and threat actors targeting individuals and institutions across various industries, there is no such thing as a company that’s exempt from cyberattacks. For your business, you need to keep yourself protected because of the difference it makes with respect to profits, losses, and reputational matters.
Phishing is a specific manifestation that you must tackle to protect your business. The problem, however, is that far too many decision-makers remain complacent because they’re unaware of what is at stake. This brings us to a question: What is the business impact of a phishing attack?
What Are Phishing Attacks?
Phishing is an attack method used by cybercriminals that revolves around the use of certain schemes to gain sensitive information from victims. Threat actors target vulnerable individuals and companies with approaches such as bogus websites and email campaigns that dupe people into disclosing sensitive details such as:
- Passwords
- Company details
- Personal information (birthdays, addresses, etc.)
Over the years, phishing attacks have become an especially critical point of concern for many because they continue to increase in quantity and sophistication. With the vast number of businesses being attacked and affected by phishing scams, you must approach the issue at hand with the right mindset.
What Happens to Your Business after a Phishing Scam?
Phishing attacks can impact businesses in many different ways, depending on various factors such as the size of the organisation and the amount of information that has been compromised. To give you a better idea of why you should go beyond basic spam filtering software and employee awareness, here’s a quick rundown of how these scams can affect your firm:
1. Intellectual Property Loss
One common outcome of phishing scams is the theft of intellectual property, which can be the most destructive loss of all.
When hackers get access to your sensitive information or systems, they can end up taking your research files, trade secrets, customer lists, formulas, and upcoming developments. This is mainly why firms in the pharmaceutical, defence, technology, or marketing sectors seek to avoid phishing attacks at all costs, as such losses can set them back millions.
2. Financial Loss
Another expected business impact that firms will experience when they fall into a phishing scam is significant amounts of financial loss. On top of actual losses in company accounts, companies can expect more financial deficits once they’re made to pay fines to GDPR, PCI, and PIPEDA while reimbursing affected customers.
If you’re keen on avoiding these unfortunate outcomes, then it’s highly recommended that you enlist the services of a digital brand protection company like FraudWatch to help you stay on top of your needs!
As simple and harmless as they may seem at first, phishing scams can prove to be a catalyst for your business’s downfall and future struggles if you don’t take the necessary steps to avoid them. Now that you’re well aware of the implications they bring, you must now equip yourself with the right mindset and strategies for your safety and success.
FraudWatch is a digital brand protection company specialising in anti-phishing, anti-piracy solutions, and cyber-attack prevention services. Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we can help keep your business safe online!