June 27, 2022 • Cybersecurity
Have you considered the repercussions if your business were to go down? What would this mean to your reputation; to your ability in continuing to function and fulfill client needs? To communicating with clients and/or customers? For many businesses, these questions are not considered, leaving your business vulnerable and open to liabilities that can lead to dire results.
Today, we would like to share a case study about the importance of ensuring you have a reputable and knowledgeable IT team protecting your business.
A few years ago, Digital Link was enlisted to help an accounting firm of approximately twenty-one staff members. They didn’t have an IT plan in place and had the unfortunate event of having data stolen from many of their clients. Information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and social insurance numbers; vital information included on a tax return. This type of breach is damaging for any business; especially when you are in the industry of handling personal information and private details.
When the firm hired Digital Link to help, we solidified the security and remediated the issues. Our team of IT professionals also brought in new policies and procedures to prevent a similar intrusion from happening in the future. We assisted with communication to their clients, their association and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.
Unfortunately, our expertise was brought in too late. Immediately after the breach, the firm’s client list reduced by 30% of their business due to the loss of trust and anger at the event. At corporate year end, they found that they had lost another 30-35% of their corporate business, which left them with fragments of their client base. The owner was devastated. Fearing further loss, he made the difficult decision to sell his book. He sold for much less than its typical worth to try and recoup some of the value of the business that had been built over thirty years.
The actions of one employee, introducing a single corrupted file into his work computer, resulted in twenty-one people losing their jobs, and for the owner to lose not only his life’s work, but what was to be his retirement fund. They did not have a dedicated IT department, nor did they have cyber insurance; both of which are vital to the protection of your business.
We don’t want to use scare tactics, but we encourage you to see this as a cautionary tale of how a single event can lead to devastating outcomes. This is why our IT department is the backbone of our company, and why we are dedicated to help ensure these types of instances don’t happen within our own organization and to other businesses.
IT is about risk management as much as it is about “my email isn’t working.” You ensure your business is covered by your contracts and your insurance. It’s time to ensure that your technology is covered in the same way. Contact us today and let our team help keep your business safe.
Liked this article?
We are adding more useful articles to our blog every week! Join our subscribers to stay up to date on digital security, marketing, and social media trends.
By entering your email, you agree to receive our monthly newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time!
