Why the High Costs of Data Privacy are Worth Every Penny

We aren’t going to try and pretend that the investments necessary to preserve your business’ data security are small ones. Especially at first glance, you may very well start to question if such an investment is truly necessary.

The simple fact of the matter is that, compared to the costs that a breach of privacy will incur, the investment you put into your security measures will suddenly seem like a real bargain.

Let’s consider some of the costs that neglecting to invest into your data privacy measures can force your business to pay.

Issues Concerning Your Data Privacy Get Expensive, Fast…

…and for a variety of reasons. Any given company’s data handling practices are now given a lot more scrutiny from regulatory bodies and security-minded customers and clients alike. News headlines and the lower-thirds of broadcast news have announced “CYBERSECURITY BREACH” far too often as of late for cybersecurity to not be a priority…and yet, many businesses still shortchange their defenses, assuming that their business’ size—or relative lack thereof—shields them from being a target.

Guess what? It doesn’t.

On top of that, not only could you suffer your data being breached, you’d also have to deal with the consequences that such a breach brings about—the loss of reputation, the regulatory fines and backlash, and the damage done to the trust your clients feel for you. In short, the breach of privacy is just the start of your troubles…and the rest of these troubles carry a significant price tag with them.

How Breaches of Privacy Get So, So Very Expensive…

Let’s say, for the sake of example, that you were running a medical clinic just as sexy as the ones on TV. In between dramatically complicated and emotional cases and the decidedly not HR-approved relationships amongst your staff, your facility suffers a data breach that exposes the considerable amount of data you've collected from your patients—medical histories, personally identifiable information, and financial details all made available to whomever wanted them.

That’s pretty bad. Can’t imagine many patients (new or existing) are going to be excited to receive treatment at a facility that allowed all of that personal data to be breached. Chances are, your clinic is going to lose most of its patients. However, while all your patients may want little to do with you, you’ll certainly get plenty of attention from regulatory bodies and authorities looking to collect fines for your likely non-compliance. You’ll also need to provide some form of recompense to all those impacted by the breach, which often takes the form of extended monitoring services on your dime for everyone involved.

On top of all this, you’ll also need to resolve whatever problem led to the breach, which can easily rack up costs, as can any downtime that these events will cause.

But Isn’t It Just as Expensive to Implement All The Requisite Security Tools?

In a way, yes…but when implementing these tools, it becomes a question of capital costs versus operational costs.

Let’s say your hypothetical melodramatic medical clinic was hacked. Without the security that may have stopped the hack, you have all of the above costs to deal with, all hitting your budget at the same time. Forgive me for assuming, but this kind of event will ruin your budgetary planning, unless you had both the foresight and sufficient funds set aside to cover this kind of event.

However, today’s IT—from productivity to security—is delivered differently than it once was. Rather than investing a large lump sum and having to completely replace your software every few years (including another large lump sum paid out), White Mountain IT Services can help you by offering a scalable, sized-to-fit implementation of the necessary resources. Due to this approach, you’ll be able to predict and budget your software and other services in a more consistent and predictable way…and, as it happens, one that is far easier to incorporate into your business’ budget as an operational cost.

In short, our services make ensuring your data remains secure and more feasible to budget for, and thereby make them more accessible for New Hampshire businesses. Interested in learning more about how White Mountain IT Services can make your business’ security (and, by extension, your life) easier? Give us a call at 603-889-0800 today!