The cost of security incidents curses companies for years
The data-breach costs escalate on multiple levels and affect the company for a long time. The overall price includes damage repair as well as loss of reputation and fines.
Repairing the damage
Customers’ data is at the core of every business. It is the company’s most precious possession. Recovering it takes time and resources that could otherwise be invested in future growth.
Paying fines for breaking the law
Data security is required by law, and breaking it results in heavy fines. For instance, the European Union’s GDPR sets a maximum fine of €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher. United States CCPA penalties can be added up for every violation from US $2.500 to an enormous sum.
Rebuilding a brand’s reputation
Security issues are highly indexed in online search engines and can ruin a brand’s global reputation. There are known cases where brands rather changed their identity than attempting to save their compromised reputation.
Regaining current and prospective customers
Visitors encountering a non-functional website will likely turn to competition because unreliable service doesn’t inspire confidence. Converting new customers after a security incident is much more difficult and expensive than retaining existing ones.
Gaining new partners’ trust
In the B2B segment, companies require cooperating with highly trustable partner networks compliant with various security certificates. A potential data breach endangers the whole network and puts the affected company on a blacklist.
Obsolete websites are at high risk
Given the fast development in IT, your website can never be 100% safe. But it’s an easier target if it uses obsolete, unsupported software. In this case, it’s safe from attacks as these were carried out years ago, but it’s very vulnerable in today’s online jungle. Hackers can easily find information on gaining global administrator access to a website or app built on obsolete software, including old versions of Kentico.
If your website runs on an old platform, the question isn’t whether but when it’s going to be attacked.
Another risky choice is utilizing cumbersome software, where bug-fixing is a matter of months. It can be especially damaging if you’re running a multisite project where a security issue on one website destroys the whole project.
Preventing data breach
Rather than saving money to cover a potential data breach, it’s wise to invest in precautions. We recommend buying the latest software from a vendor with a good reputation and working with a digital agency that cares for its clients even after the implementation is finished.
Security of Kentico Xperience websites
Given that the platform runs on-premises, Kentico Xperience developers can only update the product until it’s implemented. After that, we have no access to the client’s platform, and they need to update it by themselves or in cooperation with their implementation agency.
We guarantee business availability, which means that we make sure every client's website runs without downtime. But we can only provide this guarantee for the latest version of Kentico Xperience, currently Kentico Xperience 13. Upgrading to it is up to clients and their implementation agency.
Kentico Xperience puts clients’ safety first
We’re proud ISO 27001 certificate holders. This means that all our employees and contractors must comply with the given security measures and protect valuable information in a standardized way.
We promptly react to any security issue reported to us and release hotfixes regularly every week. If we’re informed about a critical problem, we provide the client with a workaround for instant protection and fix the problem as quickly as we can—usually within 1-2 days.
This year Kentico Xperience swapped launching new versions for releasing Refreshes a few times a year. It’s another win for security because every Refresh comes with a security review. Installing a Refresh is much easier than upgrading to a new version of the platform. Therefore, there is no excuse for dwelling on obsolete technology anymore.
Keep your website secure and let your business thrive
Prioritizing security has several advantages. A secure website prevents business disruption and helps you retain your existing customers and build trust with prospects. Your reputation remains spotless, and your business can grow, undisturbed, alongside other reliable partners who are happy to cooperate with you. On top of that, you prevent serious financial loss connected to data breach recovery.
By Juraj Komlosi