Digital marketing has revolutionized the way businesses advertise their products and services. While most focus on the benefits, it’s undeniable that there are also threats associated with this type of advertising – precisely the reason that every online platform you visit has different levels of vulnerability to cyber-attack. Marketing emails, social media posts and your business website are all targets, especially if you don’t pay enough attention to security.
Assessing the severity of cyber-attack risks
A majority of businesses today outsource digital marketing to third-party firms. This practice alone exposes your company to a potential data breach. While many would argue that working with a marketing firm has many benefits, you need extensive security protocols to prevent a security breach from occurring. Allowing several people access to company social media accounts may be efficient, but it needs to be done in the most responsible way possible.
A data breach can be financially devastating to any company. For instance, a company that has experienced a rise in CBD sales because of digital marketing could lose approximately millions in revenue after a single cyber-attack. Hence, employing the most advanced strategies to ward off all types of online attacks is critical to the survival of any enterprise. Aside from Digital Marketing, you also need to know more about cro meaning
How to protect your business website
Your first line of defense against cyber-attack should focus on the company website. Unfortunately, business sites typically have poor configuration, making it easy for hackers and cybercriminals to access critical information such as consumer data. Also, the team handling CMS updates needs to follow strict safety protocols, especially when it comes to their password. It may seem simple, but at least 80% of website breaches occur as a result of a poorly configured password.
Keeping social media accounts secure
Many business owners tend to rely on the security protocols used by social media platforms. Unfortunately, none of these are impenetrable to a cyber threat. Although improvements and security updates get rolled out regularly, a single hacking incident can be significantly damaging to your brand’s reputation. The level of security and protection you employ should be similar to that of your company website. In addition to two-factor authentication, make sure that passwords are secure, and you limit access to individuals allowed to monitor and contribute new content to the accounts.
Keeping business email accounts secure
For many years, emails have become a favorite target for spreading malware. About 67% of malware distributed around the world is contained in emails, either as a link or an attachment. If anyone within the company opens a fraudulent email by mistake, it could result in a massive data breach. When it comes to this type of threat, the best defense is training and education. Every employee should know how to identify a fraud email. It’s also critical to deploy guidelines on the frequent replacement of passwords.
Protecting company IT systems
If a cyber-attack causes IT downtime, the average time it takes to get the system back up and running is 33 hours. Imagine the impact it will have on business operations if IT systems are down for such a long period of time. Once again, making sure that passwords are secure and changed frequently is the simplest and most effective way to prevent hacking incidents from occurring.