It seems like every day that you listen to the news or look on the Internet there are stories about a site being breached by hackers. People are having their data stolen, accounts are being accessed, and ransomware is becoming a real nightmare for both individuals and businesses.
Trying to Get Your Site Recognized
One of the trouble spots of this cybersecurity issue is that it is the sites that are garnering a lot of user action that are going to be the most vulnerable to hackers. It is not an issue where they are unable to provide quality security. It is simply a matter of numbers. Drawing customers to a site makes it more popular, which makes it more attractive to hackers.
For the business, it is essential to draw customers. By using SEO outreach, they are working with the search engines so that the site is more visible, improving its presence on the Internet. That is going to make it more profitable in the long run. It is also going to make it more attractive to hackers.
A True Conundrum
This is the conundrum that many business’ owners face. They do what they can to ensure that they are meeting compliance requirements to protect the security and integrity of their server and its connections. This is especially true in major industries, such as shipping, power grids, and pipelines, where there are strict guidelines that must be met to remain in compliance.
Those same kinds of guidelines may not apply to your average retailer or service industry. However, they still want to ensure that customers feel confident to go to their website and purchase goods and services. Failing to do so will put that organization out of business.
Who Is Attacked the Most?
When you hear about the cyberattacks, it is usually large retailers or organizations that are the target. Because there is so much data, especially financial information, they present an attractive target. However, small businesses account for over 60% of all cyberattacks. Because they have limited expertise and resources available for cybersecurity, they often present an easy target for hackers. Maybe not a lot of data and information is available, but it is easier to access.
A small business may not have the resources to be able to stop these malicious actors, but it is essential that they do so. A security breach can have a significant impact on your business. Not only does it decrease customer trust in the business, but it can also hurt the SEO ranking.
What you may not realize is that the search engines will impose a penalty upon sites that are breached by hackers. The larger the breach, the larger the penalty the search engine can impose. Not only does the company face damage to their reputation, and potentially loss of client data and financial information, but now they are being doubly penalized by the search engines for failing to protect this information.
This is why the small business must also use its valuable resources to protect customer data. It is not just a matter of having the reputation of the business hurt, but could result in a rapid de-escalation of their ranking in search engines, which could crush their business. That is something they simply cannot afford.
