The continuous rise of the digital era has meant that many new brands, especially e-commerce companies, have been able to find their feet in what feels like, a sea of other competitors trying to stay afloat. And because so many brands are trying to establish themselves without much marketing expertise, more and more marketing agencies have been formed to cater to those in need.
Although technological advancements have helped form a digital-focused world (which allows brands and marketing agencies to prosper), it also gives way to hacking concerns. In addition, with so many marketing agencies having sprung up in the past few years, you wonder how hack-proof these sites are. The thing is, it can be challenging to know how hack-proof your site is until it happens, but that’s where ethical hackers come into the picture. Ethical hackers, with authorization, attempt to hack systems to understand how secure they are.
Why do we need ethical hackers?
Many modern-day hackers are self-taught with the help of technology, and, as a result, there isn’t a shortage of those wishing to exploit brands that don’t have secure systems in place to protect them. What’s more, CyberGhost’s blog piece shows that 66% of businesses attacked by hackers believe they’ll never recover. That’s why having ethical hackers attempt to hack the businesses they work for allows the company to identify any issues and understand what plans could be put in place to help prevent such a thing. But what do marketing agencies have to do with this?
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Why would hackers target marketing agencies?
Many marketing agencies hold information about their current customers, like their names and email address. For talented hackers, this is enough to cause more harm than good. There’s also a good chance that marketing agencies work closely with external companies, and if the hacker is skilled enough, they could find additional targets that way, too. Unfortunately, hackers aren’t only interested in your brilliant marketing techniques.
Why should marketing agencies be prepared?
There are a few reasons why marketing agencies should be prepared for any potential hacking threats. Wizard Cyber highlights this in their article, focusing on businesses.
As highlighted previously, marketing agencies are a gold mine for retaining confidential customer information that could easily be leaked – this could cause severe damage to the company’s reputation and make customers and clients reluctant to liaise with you in the future if you simply can’t be trusted to store their data safely. And marketing agencies are nothing without their clients.
This wouldn’t stop there, though. It would have a massive domino effect. This would go on to have a major impact on company revenue and return on investment, key things that companies need to have control over to stay afloat. After all, as Infiniwiz state in their article, customers aren’t going to want to use an agency that’s caused them significant issues, even if the agency hasn’t directly done it themselves.
On reflection, it’s easy to see why having sufficient, hack-proof systems, especially as a marketing agency, is crucial. Agencies should now more than ever ensure they can prevent such attacks if they sustain themselves in these ambitious and ever-evolving technological times.