Hackers Could Destroy Your Good Reputation

Besides costing you lots of money, headaches, and even legal problems, hackers could ruin your reputation.

If you’re not careful, hackers will steal your customer’s money, personal information and their loyalty to you and your business. There have been a great many cyber crimes involving the purposeful destruction of personal and corporate reputations. These include cases of hackers gaining access to websites and social media accounts and changing messages or posting as the individual or company. Attacks like these can be very damaging if not caught quickly. You can help avoid the destruction of your reputation by:

• Monitoring all accounts frequently. This way, messages posted by someone who is unauthorized will be caught quickly.
• Changing passwords often, and asking clients to do the same.
• Regaining control of accounts as soon as possible when there has been a breach in security.
• Mitigating damage with consumers by employing goodwill efforts for any issues that the hack may have caused. Then make sure you honestly address the issue immediately.

The Risk for Smaller Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Small businesses and entrepreneurs have traditionally been spared from the largest types of cyber security issues. This is because thieves going after massive data often target larger businesses. However, in today’s economy, freelancers and small businesses face a large problem. They make up about 80 percent of the businesses in the U.S. and they spend far less money on website security than do the large corporations, which makes them a much more lucrative target for hackers.

Regardless of the size of your business, keeping your client and customer data protected is paramount. When there is a data breach, all customers who could possibly be impacted need to be notified. This can diminish trust in you and your company and subsequently cost you business. The good news is that there are affordable methods to help you protect your data from threats of attack.For example, Trust Guard, the leader in website security, can monitor your site to ensure that it is safe from security holes used by hackers to ruin your reputation. Keeping an active SSL certificate and unique passwords will also help keep your site free from hackers.

When shoppers feel confident, they are more likely to buy from you.