The Woerndle brothers, Carl and Alex, founded Distribute.IT in 2002 and experienced the various phases of growth. After successfully scaling their company over nine years, they had roughly 30,000 clients who paid them on a recurrent basis. It was the kind of business story everybody wants — until it wasn’t.
On June 3, 2011, Carl Woerndle received a chilling phone call. Distribute.IT’s network had been breached. The brothers and their team quickly scrambled to repair the damage, but it was too late. They worked 72-hour sessions more than once, trying to restore the network to normal. But the Woerndle brothers ultimately faced the unavoidable truth: A single breach had cost them their business.
Even worse, The Woerndles’ story isn’t an isolated incident. Another entrepreneur’s company generated about $1 million in annual revenue, and his wife ran a childcare business on the side. One day, a disgruntled employee hacked his website, stole customers’ email addresses and contacted customers with the false information that the business was a front. The employee accused the couple of using the childcare center as a means to enable pedophiles to exploit the young boys and girls there. The incident cost the couple both businesses.
Understand the risks.
Many startups are obsessed with getting funding, marketing, garnering press, boosting sales and increasing conversions. Most small-business owners devote little to no focus on security aspects. It’s a dangerous mistake.
According to John Mason from TheBestVPN.com, “The most important concern of any startup should be security. Research shows that at least 50 percent of Americans will be hacked and that about 70 percent of businesses are hacked each year. Not preparing for something like that could have lasting effects.”
If your website is hacked, you could be left with serious damages. Here are a few of the most notable.
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A dead business you’re unable to revive. The U.S National Cyber Security Alliance reports 60 percent of businesses that suffer a hack attempt do not survive the next six months.
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A damaged brand. Major brands such as Yahoo! and Sony survived hacks because they’re so integrated…