Business Implications of Security on the Internet - Essay Example

Loss of revenue is one of the major business implications of security on the internet. Lack of internet security can lead to loss of revenue in two main ways. Firstly, if the internet server that a business uses is compromised, hackers can (in most cases) gain access to the businesses financial information. Such information can be used to pilfer business funds and this leads to loss of revenue. Secondly, in cases where businesses rely a great deal on the internet and use e-commerce sites to sell their goods/services, a compromised internet network or site automatically leads to loss of revenue since such a site is rendered inoperable and consumers are not able to access the site (Ringwelski, 2010).

There has also been loss of productivity on human personnel because of internet security measures taken by company. Due to the rise of internet security breaches, businesses may be forced to implement certain measures that ultimately lower all their employees’ productivity. For instance, employees may be asked to conduct various security checks before accessing the internet and this may be time consuming and lower productivity. Another major repercussion of internet security on businesses is the potential risk of the businesses reputation being damaged.

In cases, where a business’s internet security is breached, hackers can damage the company’s reputation by posting false information about the company on the compromised site, or stealing the information of the company’s clients. For most businesses, this risk can be even more debilitating than the loss of business revenue. This is because while a business may recover from a loss of revenue, a damaged reputation can cause customers, investors and shareholders to lose faith in the business and withdraw their support.

The loss of such support often leads to the collapse of the business (Shoniregun, 2005). Evidently, implications such as the ones discussed herein can lead to businesses being damaged extensively. For these reasons, different businesses have devised various solutions to deal with internet security. For instance, some companies have developed information-sharing partnerships with various government agencies. Such partnerships enable companies to rely on the government’s law enforcement abilities to detect and prevent breaches in their internet security.

In such partnerships, businesses rely on government law agencies to provide them with any information that can improve their internet security and the