Cybersecurity: The Cornerstone of Building Brand Trust in the Digital Age

Most people believe they understand what cybersecurity is all about, only to find out later that some of their “good security practices” are not as good as they believed. Take password expiration, which many IT teams enforce on their organizations. This measure is not only frustrating to users but it also does more harm than good to an organization’s cybersecurity.

The idea that having passwords expire is safer is only one of the many common misunderstandings in the world of cybersecurity. A Pew Research cybersecurity study found in 2023 that less than 50% of all Americans can identify examples of two-factor authentication (2FA), one of the most common and effective security methods.

The cybersecurity knowledge gap affects organizations and individuals alike. Many companies falsely believe they are secure simply because they have basic security measures like firewalls and antivirus software in place. Many times, organizations also fail to hire a cybersecurity specialist to help them protect their systems, believing IT professionals are up to the task.

While scenes like this one or this one in “Mr. Robot“ might seem unbelievable, this type of scenario really does happen. A 2020 study found that 57% of US hospitals used Windows 7 in March 2020, despite support having stopped earlier that year. One of Uber’s biggest security breaches was possible due to a hacker targeting a specific employee and convincing them they were a member of Uber’s IT team.

Individuals and organizations tend to underestimate the likelihood of being targeted by cybercriminals. Many assume that only large corporations or government entities are at risk, failing to realize that small businesses and individuals are often seen as low-hanging fruit by attackers.

According to a Chainalysis report, over $1.1 billion was received by ransomware attackers in 2023. According to the firm, “the ransomware landscape is not only prolific but continually expanding”, which represents a challenge for everyone involved. Data breaches increased similarly by 20%, with an estimated 98% of organizations having a “relationship with a vendor that experienced a data breach within the last two years”.

The consequences of a successful cyberattack can be devastating, ranging from financial losses and data breaches to complete system compromises and operational disruptions. Despite this, many organizations are risking the aftermath of a cyberattack rather than getting their cybersecurity in order.

What many of these organizations and individuals fail to realize is that cybersecurity breaches can affect them on many other levels other than operationally or financially. Reputation, for example, is often one of the damages that take the most to repair after a cybersecurity incident.

The most obvious example of such damage to a brand’s reputation is Ashley Madison’s 2015 data breach, which saw the data of millions of users. Given that the website was all about finding partners for an affair, the breach had catastrophic effects on the company, leading its CEO to step down and the loss of millions of users. According to AON, companies can lose as much as 25% in market value over the year that follows a cyberattack.

Good cybersecurity practices are not only about preventing negative incidents from occurring in the future but also about gaining customer trust. While not all users are worried about how their private data is safeguarded when using every application, most users do care. According to Panda Security, 80% of Americans care about their data privacy, especially online.

Hook Security Co-Founder Zach Eikenberry, Texas Performance Psychology CEO Dr. Jess Garza, and Apollo Information Systems CISO Andy Bennett have been exploring the ins and outs of social manipulation, vulnerability assessment, social engineering, hacking, and other aspects of cyber security for most of their professional experiences.

These three experts joined a panel moderated by tech journalist Rob Pegoraro to discuss the role that cybersecurity plays in building brand trust. During the panels, the experts argued that cybersecurity is the cornerstone of building transparent, empathetic, and valuable relationships with a user base.

To learn more about what you, your team, and your company can do to better address the growing cybersecurity challenges, make sure to watch the video below. You can also find similar panels on Grit Daily’s YouTube channel.