How Your Company Can Get Past A Major Cyber Hack Or Security Breach

By Author: Josette Van Stiphout
Total Articles: 6
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There are certainly a number of things that we can learn from the retailing giant Target’s recent data incident, but there is one that stands out loud and clear. It is that cyber security problems make for very bad publicity. This heist was one of the largest online data thefts in history. Data hackers made off with hundreds of thousands of customers' credit card numbers, leaving the very large corporation in an awkward situation to explain to their loyal customers how the breach took place and what they plan to do to make up for it in the future.

Although we could fill dozens of web pages with Target's woes, we want to turn our attention today to your business – and specifically, steps you can take to overcome a security problem on your own website.

Here is what to do when you realize you have been hacked:

1. Act immediately. The last thing you want to do in a dire situation is stare at the problem. The moment you notice something odd is going on, place a call to your Website Hosting Company, Web Development Company or Computer Network Support/ IT company so you can minimize the damage.

2. Take ...
... emergency steps. You should already have a set of written plans in place to deal with these kinds of attacks, particularly if you have a busy website or one that handles e-commerce transactions. These might include closing off firewalls, restricting administrator access, and backing up to previous versions of the site.

3. Assess the damage. Once you have "stopped the bleeding," so to speak, your next step is to assess the damage. It most likely will not be easy to figure out what hackers have done or taken, but it is important to figure out what you are working with before you move on.

4. Do not hide from the problem. Last but not least, let customers know that they have been affected so they hear it from you, and not from their bank. It won't be an easy conversation, but it may just save the relationship.

Naturally, the best way to recover from a cyber security issue is to not have one in the first place. Aside from a few good online security habits (something we are going to cover in a post very soon), your best defense is to have the right web design and Information Technology team on your side. Why not call the Kinetik team of experts today?

Feel like your company’s online security isn't what it should be? Talk to a member of the Kinetik IT Team today to see how we can help. To learn more about services and products, and to stay up to date with Kinetik IT, visit www.Kinetik-IT.com.

Article Source: Kinetik IT blog