Excerpt from article’s original appearance in LinkedIn Expert Roundups, February 26, 2021

Without question, data privacy and data security management present enormous risks and challenges for businesses of all sizes. Privacy and security aren’t just issues for companies like Target and Home Depot, whose breaches affected millions of customers and cost millions of dollars. Staying ahead of this curve is a special issue for small and medium-sized businesses because SMEs, especially, tend to underestimate the value access to their data holds for external sources.

A bit of perspective: ”According to the World Trade Organization, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent over 90 percent of the business population, 60-70% of employment and 55% of GDP in developed economies.”

Let me say that again: 90 percent of the business population worldwide is small and medium-sized businesses.

What this means to you is that, if you run a business employing less than 250 people, there’s a 90 percent chance your business will be targeted at some point with the potential of a data breach, risking your customers’ or clients’ information and your reputation. As valuable as your client base is to attackers, it is absolutely invaluable to you – it is your bread and butter. Customers and clients will notice whether you are prepared and how you respond in the event of a breach. You risk not just expenses related to a data breach, but also your most important asset: the trust of your customers and clients. But there are steps you can take to help mitigate this risk.

The first step is to understand the risk environment. Start by understanding your data and why its safety and security are important to you, in addition to your clients or customers. Chris Brook wrote a great piece covering the high points of managing data integrity for Digital Guardian in December 2020, What is Data Integrity? Definition, Best Practices & More. The article provides an excellent foundation for understanding types of integrity relative to your data, and fundamental suggestions for managing and securing your customer information the way that it deserves. The Federal Trade Commission also provides a variety of great resources for businesses, as well. Being better informed is your first line of defense and will help you assess and manage these risks and you and your customers and clients keep their peace of mind.