IoT’s (Internet of Things) rapid development has unleashed a powerful digital transformation, shifting the way corporations operate and serve customers. In 2020, the IoT market was valued at $310 billion and is expected to reach over $1,840 billion by 2028.
While digitization has significantly grown, so has the amount of cybercrime—since 2020, cybercrime has risen by 600%. As businesses and their devices continue to scale, so must their security strategies. All of this begins with your employees’ identities.
Learn what identity theft is, how identity theft affects your business and workforce, and proactive risk intelligence strategies that can mitigate these threats.
What Is Business Identity Theft?
Identity theft and business identity theft are not the same.
Business identity theft is when someone impersonates a company—not an individual—to execute malicious schemes. This can manifest in various ways, including:
– Stealing business ID documents/credentials to obtain company information
– Filing fraudulent business documents to receive refundable business credits or to initiate personal identity theft
– Sending out fraudulent emails in a company’s name to gain confidential personal or business information
Any entity with a business federal tax ID or EIN is at risk of business identity theft. In addition, organizations are at risk primarily due to the vulnerability of their employees’ data.
Since 2018, the Constella team discovered over 13,000 data breaches and 11 million exposed personal records—all linked to individuals’ corporate credentials. Therefore, it’s imperative to understand the wide impact identity theft can create and how to protect your business adequately.
5 Ways Identity Theft Impacts Your Business and Employees
Here are the five main ways identity theft impacts your business and employees:
1. Puts Employees at Risk
Identity theft exposes personal data, which puts your employees and their family members at risk:
– 78% of employees have had their corporate credentials exposed in a breach or leakage.
– 92% of executives have had their credentials exposed. Executives and VIP employees are most at risk, as they often possess the most confidential information.
Perhaps one of the most forlorn aspects of employee risks is that, depending on the impact of the data breach, the situation may send executives packing. C-suite officials at large corporations such as Target and Sony were fired due to cyber attacks.
Though the executives were not responsible, the repercussions of the cybercrime can impact shareholder relationships and company reputation.
2. Causes Reputational Damage
Cybercriminals target employees to gain access to company data, which puts your brand’s reputation at risk.
For example, Jack Dorsey was one of many executive leaders who became the victim of a malicious hack. A cybercriminal hacked into his social media account and posted a series of racial slurs. Though Dorsey was not responsible, this cybercrime still harmed Twitter’s reputation. The incident compelled the public to doubt Twitter’s lack of security measures and highlighted the company’s shortfall of not doing enough to ban racist users on the social platform.
3. Puts Customers at Risk
If you’re in the B2C space, identity theft can put your customers’ personal safety at risk. When First American Financial Corp. got hacked, millions of customers’ records were exposed. The information included people’s bank account numbers, SSNs, driver’s license numbers, and more.
Cases like this can cause a ripple effect, damaging your customers’ safety and the outlook of your brand and organization.
4. Affects Time and Resources
Identity theft creates many issues that require time and resources to solve. Victims spend roughly 100 – 200 hours (12.5 to 25 workdays) to undo identity theft. This involves filing reports, freezing relevant accounts, and more, which takes away much of employee/business productivity time.
5. Creates Financial Damage
Identity theft can create severe financial losses that can affect your bottom line.
Businesses hit by CEO fraud attacks lose between $25,000 – and $75,000.
But some cyberattacks involving CEOs have cost organizations millions of dollars. Equifax inc. paid $575 million as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and 50 states. The settlement alleged Equifax failed to take reasonable steps to secure its network, which faced a data breach involving 147 million people.
How Can You Mitigate Identity Theft at Your Organization?
Thankfully, there are tangible identity theft solutions that can alleviate the threats and repercussions your organization may face. Here’s what you can do:
– Incorporate an identity monitoring service: The right identity monitoring service will provide you with in-depth access to potential criminal activity happening across various internal and external sources. The goal is to proactively identify and tackle fraudulent exposures and mitigate damage.
– Seek threat intelligence solutions: Renowned industry leaders, such as Constella, provide real-time threat intelligence through insights on corporate identities and domains. With the help of an intelligence analyst team, you’ll get access to data sources across 53 languages and 125 countries. Request a demo today.
– Adopt a digital risk protection software: A digital risk protection software program allows your team to gain visibility of your organization’s external digital footprint and potential threats. Platforms like Constella Dome let you monitor 1,000+ public and proprietary data sources for malicious activity. You’ll receive a bird’s-eye view of your entire organization, helping you protect every employee—not just a select few.
Learn about Constella’s Digital Risk Protection Platform
What type of threats is your organization facing? Check your exposure risk and learn more about Constella’s digital risk protection platform. Safeguarding your employees and organization begins here.
