Why You Need to Protect Your Marketing Data.

Marketing departments often collect and manage sensitive data, including customer information, financial data, and sometimes even intellectual property. This makes marketing data a prime target for cyberattacks, especially for small businesses. Of all cyberattacks in 2022, 43% were against small businesses.

A data breach or cyberattack could not only compromise the sensitive information of customers and clients, but also damage the reputation of your company and brand, leading to lost sales and revenue. In addition, failure to comply with data privacy regulations can result in legal and financial penalties. The EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) adoption has taken hold in the United States through legislation like the CCPA (California Consumer Protection Act) and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA).

The VCDPA gives consumers the right to access their personal data and request that it be deleted by businesses. It also requires companies to conduct data protection assessments related to processing personal data for targeted advertising and sales purposes.

Marketing technologies are constantly evolving and new apps are launching almost daily. Personal information like names, addresses, payment methods, and any other identifying factors used for marketing purposes mean you should take cybersecurity seriously and implement appropriate measures to protect data and systems that maintain any customer or client information.

Best practices includes regularly updating software, using strong passwords, implementing two-factor authentication, and providing employee training on cybersecurity threats. By doing so, the risk of a cyberattack is significantly reduced and both the company and its customers are best protected.