Of course, money is at stake in any cyber attack — but businesses, especially small ones, often lose much more than that. Security breaches can affect all aspects of a targeted company, from its operations and finance to its brand reputation and customer loyalty.
More than half of businesses surveyed that had their data breached were subjected to public scrutiny as a result. They also suffered some measurable losses:
29 percent of businesses that were breached lost revenue; 38 percent of those lost more than 20 percent of their revenues.
23 percent of businesses lost business opportunities after a cyber attack; 42 percent of those lost more than 20 percent of their potential new business.
22 percent of businesses that suffered a cyber attack lost customers; 40 percent of those lost more than 20 percent of their customers.