Perception is everything. Your customers expect that their transactions and interactions with you will be secure. If you are hacked, especially due to lack of action, you will lose customers and trust.
I recently attended the Small Business Expo in Boston. The most beneficial aspect of the conference was a 1×1 session I had with GoDaddy, my website provider. I sat down and reviewed all of my current services. We discussed the look and feel, some of the plugins that are running (including antispam for comments), how to capture metrics and web traffic, and the security on the website. The advisor suggested enhancing security by including SSL encryption and adding SiteLock, a malware detection/prevention program. He said that Google is now ranking sites higher based upon their security (using HTTPS). It’s not a huge amount, but it matters.
In the back of my mind, I’m thinking “more money, is it worth it”. But very quickly, I realized this is not about search engine optimization. It is about a small investment with a big payoff in terms of my customers’ perception of how I conduct business. If I ignore the basics, what will my customers think? Consider Sony and their breach; some basics were forgotten or ignored, and they paid for it in reputation (and now financially). Later that week, I spent the $60 for both services for one year. That’s a quick win for my company and my customers.
Do you need help looking at security? Who is keeping track of the basics for you, and how are you ensuring that your security and your vendors’ security are well-managed? Let me help you with an assessment of your security processes, the security clauses that are in your vendor contracts, or help you develop a plan of action in the case of a breach. Complete my contact form on the Performegy website and I will get back to you quickly.
Alcatraz photo by darylkc under Creative Commons license
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