Kaspersky Lab: More than half (57%) of companies worldwide admit that cybersecurity incidents they experienced in the last year had a negative impact on their reputation. 
The average cost of reputational damage for small and medium-sized businesses exceeded $8,000 per incident, while the damage for large enterprises exceeded $200,000. These were the findings of a survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International in 2015, with the participation of more than 5,500 IT executives from 26 countries around the world.
In a highly competitive environment, successful businesses do not rely solely on their efficiency and the quality of their products or services. The trust of customers and partners can yield higher profits for a business, while a “flawless” reputation plays a key role in establishing trust.
The loss of consumer trust in a business often leads to lower profits or more adverse or even extreme consequences sometimes (e.g. bankruptcy).
Reputational damage is directly related to whether the incident becomes public knowledge. 19% of European respondents said that information about a cybersecurity incident at their company had been leaked to the media and the event had received publicity.
The extent of the damage to a company’s reputation is measured by the amount of money the company has to spend to restore its image. One in four companies in Europe (24%) has had to seek the help of external communications consultants. It is also interesting that businesses have started to pay more attention to the concept of positive reputation over the last three years.
“Regardless of how big or small a business is, reputational damage can harm any business,” commented Konstantin Voronkov, Head of Endpoint Product Management at Kaspersky Lab. “In these circumstances, it is important to take all possible measures to ensure the protection of Information. Comprehensive protection of every part of a company’s technological infrastructure helps protect it from both information leaks caused by internal actors and hacker intrusions into its network.”
To provide multi-layered digital security, Kaspersky Lab has a portfolio of solutions and services for every part of the corporate infrastructure. This includes comprehensive solutions, such as Kaspersky Endpoint Security and Kaspersky Small Office Security, as well as specialized solutions, such as Kaspersky Security for Mobile, Kaspersky Fraud Prevention and Kaspersky Security for Virtualization, while additional support services can make your protection even stronger.
