Amidst rising cybercrimes, SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) and startups must be more careful with their IT infrastructures, regardless of size. Cybercrime is predicted to cause a business loss of USD $15.63 trillion by 2029. Even a single attack can compromise the safety of your data and operations, potentially bringing your business to its knees. Some companies may have to shut down for good. Hence, following industry regulations is the best. It not only exempts you from fines but also gives you the room to survive and thrive. Some small entities don't give this area much importance, assuming they are too small for the hackers. If you look at recent studies, this veil of misconception will disappear.
One of the credible reports suggests that 43% of hackers attack small businesses, and 60% of these companies are forced to close within six months of a breach due to reputational and financial damage. Consider opting for compliance as a service (CaaS) to save your business.
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What is CaaS?
Compliance as a Service is a cloud-based technique for businesses to stay compliant with regulations per their industry. Think of HIPAA for healthcare, ISO-27001 & NIST 800 for data security, etc. Managing this niche area would require hiring an entire team, which can be out of reach for your budget. Instead, you can choose a CaaS provider to stay on top of the game. They will handle all the technical aspects, monitor new guidelines, conduct audits, and modify systems accordingly. Due to this, you can spend more time on your core business areas and not worry about these. Here are a few scenarios illustrating how these service providers navigate and resolve the challenges in this area.
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Ever-changing regulatory frameworks
Businesses must proactively comply with new rules and regulations created based on economic, societal, and technological demands to help owners maintain transparency and responsibility. However, organizations have a tiny window of time to adapt to them. If you operate in different locations, your process can become slightly complex. At the same time, there is a cost to it. When you give this responsibility to a third-party IT services vendor, they swiftly deploy dedicated resources to meet new requirements. They leverage advanced tools to monitor everything and implement necessary changes on time. Because they have access to widespread industry knowledge, they can easily prepare and act on any new demands.
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Data privacy violation risks
You may face significant legal and reputational fallout if your company's data is breached. Modern hackers are after sensitive information. Being defensive alone doesn’t help unless you have also ensured a comprehensive compliance framework. However, various challenges need to be navigated to address this concern. As you know, you handle a humongous amount of data across different channels, which poses risks of unauthorized access. Your older systems may also not have enough security functions to satisfy modern data safety standards. Insider threats are another reality. How does a vendor overcome these problems? They will check data sources and data flow along with authorized users. Their regular monitoring systems ensure that your systems are upgraded. Staff will also be trained to identify and manage data security threats.
It's an entire process that checks the safety and security of your business at various levels and makes necessary changes to comply with new laws.
