Whenever you think about a brand and its reputation, the first thing that might come to mind is the branding aspect of it all. For example, you might think of how the logo reflects on the reputation a brand has.
There is a lot more involved in building a brand reputation and cybersecurity also ties into this. What is the role of cybersecurity in building a brand reputation? Here are five roles of cybersecurity in building and maintaining a brand reputation.
Build consumer trust
Customers will not have confidence in a company that does not have industry-grade security measures in place to secure privileged data. That is due to the risk of losing the information to people with wrong intentions. Those intentions might include selling it off to the highest bidder.
To prevent this and retain the company’s reputation, look into having a secure file transfer software. GoAnywhere.com has a cloud-based system that manages file transfers. It works like an off-shelf product and there is minimal setup required since it is virtually plug-and-play.
Get viewed as an industry leader
Regardless of what industry you operate in, trying to implement the latest security systems can be of great help in boosting your reputation. Other peers will look up to you as an industry leader in implementing security systems.
By venturing out to the newest security systems, you can have the privilege to say “the first company to implement x security system in x industry”. That just brings authority to your brand name and can be used as a marketing move to get more customers to trust the business you are running.
Improved stakeholder trust
Depending on your type of business, you might be reliant on collaborations and relationships with other stakeholders. For example, if you need some investment to commence or scale operations, it could be hard for a company without good security.
First of all, they will consider the risk of losing money when integral data is lost. They will also consider the risk of having a tarnished reputation when their name is associated with a failed venture. On the other hand, a superb security system will lead to people being keener about being associated with your brand.
Systems are always online
In this digital world, there is nothing more irritating than seeing a 404 error. Seeing an error message is just outrageous for any professional. When your system is infiltrated, it shuts down, making your brand lose a large sum of money. The brand will also lose long-standing clients because they wouldn’t have faith in your business anymore.
For businesses in some sectors that rely on doing business with customers online, a tarnished brand image will only be a scratch on the surface. These kinds of businesses will also see a halt in revenue until the problem is solved and the longer the system is offline, customers will move to available alternatives.
Protect trade secrets
The most devastating thing cybercriminals can do to a brand is accessing a victim company’s files that detail operational methods fundamental to the business’ success. What makes this cyberattack deal a deadly blow to a brand image is that beyond losing image to the public, your company’s trade secrets could be utilized by competitors.
One of the biggest cyberattacks that were targeted at retrieving information on large US businesses included Google, Northrop Grumman, and Morgan Stanley, to name a few. The attack, called Operation Aurora, was so devastating that Google was the only company that publicly admitted that their intellectual property was stolen.