Have you ever had to spend hours on the phone with your bank and credit card company because someone made a fraudulent transaction with your account?  It was annoying, even if the financial institutions agreed to credit the money back to you and if it didn’t take long before the money was back in your account.  Likewise, think of the hassle just a few weeks ago of checking your phone every few minutes to see which of the gas stations in your county still had fuel and then driving your car only when it was absolutely necessary to do so.  Both of those scenarios happen because of confidential data getting stolen.  Data breaches are, at minimum, a major hassle for everyone affected, but if a cyber attack at a big company leads to a data breach where thousands of people’s information gets stolen, then it is a legal nightmare for the responsible parties at the company.  All business owners, no matter the size of their companies, should fear the consequences of data breaches and take measures to prevent them.  A Birmingham business & corporate litigation attorney can help you with the legal aspects of implementing a better data security strategy.

Why Are Data Breaches So Scary?

If you fall victim to a phishing scam while using your personal email, then you become an identity theft victim.  If an employee using a work email account falls for a business email compromise scam, then all the data connected to that employee’s work account gets breached.  Hundreds of employees, clients, and business contacts can get their identifying and financial information stolen, leading to widespread fraud.  Even worse for you as a business owner, people and companies who suffered financial losses as a result of their data getting stolen can sue you for failing to protect their data.  Several large companies have paid class action lawsuit settlements to hundreds or thousands of people whose data got stolen when the company suffered a cyber-attack.

How to Protect Your Company from Data Breaches

Here are some ways to protect your company from data breaches:

• Hire a cybersecurity expert.  If you cannot afford to hire a full-time employee in this role, engage the expert’s services on a freelance basis.
• Educate yourself and your employees about data security.  Schedule training sessions about the current Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) checklist.
• Set up work email accounts for your employees so they do not use their personal email accounts for work.
• Require two-factor authentication for employees to access their work email accounts.

If your company has already suffered a data breach, it is never too soon to contact a corporate law attorney about protecting yourself from legal liability for the data breach.

Let Us Help You Today

Recovering from a data breach at your company can be costly and stressful.  A business law attorney can represent your company in lawsuits from employees or clients whose data was stolen when your company experienced a data breach.  Contact Cloud Willis & Ellis for help.

forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/03/08/how-to-protect-your-business-from-a-data-breach-seven-key-steps/?sh=2aaebeca6b68

Have you ever had to spend hours on the phone with your bank and credit card company because someone made a fraudulent transaction with your account?  It was annoying, even if the financial institutions agreed to credit the money back to you and if it didn’t take long before the money was back in your account.  Likewise, think of the hassle just a few weeks ago of checking your phone every few minutes to see which of the gas stations in your county still had fuel and then driving your car only when it was absolutely necessary to do so.  Both of those scenarios happen because of confidential data getting stolen.  Data breaches are, at minimum, a major hassle for everyone affected, but if a cyber attack at a big company leads to a data breach where thousands of people’s information gets stolen, then it is a legal nightmare for the responsible parties at the company.  All business owners, no matter the size of their companies, should fear the consequences of data breaches and take measures to prevent them.  A Birmingham business & corporate litigation attorney can help you with the legal aspects of implementing a better data security strategy.

Why Are Data Breaches So Scary?

If you fall victim to a phishing scam while using your personal email, then you become an identity theft victim.  If an employee using a work email account falls for a business email compromise scam, then all the data connected to that employee’s work account gets breached.  Hundreds of employees, clients, and business contacts can get their identifying and financial information stolen, leading to widespread fraud.  Even worse for you as a business owner, people and companies who suffered financial losses as a result of their data getting stolen can sue you for failing to protect their data.  Several large companies have paid class action lawsuit settlements to hundreds or thousands of people whose data got stolen when the company suffered a cyber-attack.

How to Protect Your Company from Data Breaches

Here are some ways to protect your company from data breaches:

• Hire a cybersecurity expert.  If you cannot afford to hire a full-time employee in this role, engage the expert’s services on a freelance basis.
• Educate yourself and your employees about data security.  Schedule training sessions about the current Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) checklist.
• Set up work email accounts for your employees so they do not use their personal email accounts for work.
• Require two-factor authentication for employees to access their work email accounts.

If your company has already suffered a data breach, it is never too soon to contact a corporate law attorney about protecting yourself from legal liability for the data breach.

Let Us Help You Today

Recovering from a data breach at your company can be costly and stressful.  A business law attorney can represent your company in lawsuits from employees or clients whose data was stolen when your company experienced a data breach.  Contact Cloud Willis & Ellis for help.

forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/03/08/how-to-protect-your-business-from-a-data-breach-seven-key-steps/?sh=2aaebeca6b68