As more and more businesses take to the internet to advertise their goods and services, website security becomes paramount for small to medium-sized enterprises. Often, SMEs operating in a local market don’t realise that high security online also applies to them. If you’ve been lax about your online security, here is a warning about what that can mean for your business.
Your Reputation May Be in Peril
Possibly for local businesses more than any other sector, reputation counts. As the saying goes, goodwill takes a lifetime to win and a second to lose. No doubt you stand by your offerings 100%, so it’s important to remember your website is part of the equation, as well.
If customers or other businesses experience website security troubles, which started with a click on your site, they’ll find out yours is the culprit. The opposite of reputation, malware is extremely easy to pick up and just as hard to forget. Unless your website is secure, you could pass on malware to thousands of people in the blink of an eye.
Hacking is usually done for financial gain. This means that either you, your customers or business partners could be defrauded. Nobody in business wants that kind of reputation.
Impact to Your Bottom Line
Any breaches of website security can lead to loss of funds, either directly or indirectly. As well as direct fraud, litigation is very costly. If someone sues you, you can either pay up or fight your case. Either way, this will be expensive. Not many businesses have the spare cash flow to carry on trading while fighting a protracted court case.
If it can be proven that you did not take adequate security measures, you could be found guilty of negligence, which may be fatal for many vendors.
Learn More
To find out how our specialist online security teams can help improve your website security, visit us at Gold Coast Websites or call us on (07) 5635 4224.
