The financial costs associated with cyber attacks can perpetuate long after the technical repairs and patches are in place. The first stages of such an attack may take place months or even years prior to a business or organization becoming aware of the infiltration. Unfortunately, these attacks are often identified beyond the point of immediate damage control due to insufficient network security measures. Companies are left with diminished profits, tarnished reputations, and other costly consequences.

Businesses that rely upon e-commerce are especially vulnerable to financial loss as a result of cyber attack. Every hour a company’s website is down, lost sales and negative publicity can build up and snowball. Existing and potential clients will be frustrated by lack of access to a website and will begin seek out the competition. Businesses are further victimized as they take damaging hits to their reputation and credibility. These companies lose the public’s trust. People question the practicality and safety of doing business with an organization that fails to prevent cracks in a site’s framework.

Cyber threats are considered high priority with regards to financial and national security. Regulations are in place to hold organizations accountable and require compliance with security measures to protect the overall economy and individual participants reliant upon secure business and financial transactions. Access to personal and financial information must be carefully protected. Failure to comply may result in fines, security breach, and liability costs.

The best way to maintain a company’s reputation in the face of cyber attack is to take all available preventative measures. Cyber attack prevention should be aggressive and include network audits and surveillance to identify risks and put defensive measures in place. Vigilance and aggressive network security measures are imperative to reduce the risks of successful cyber attacks.