Data security is critical for any company out there, creative or not, but creative agencies have even more to lose than others in case of a security breach. Some of the reasons should be obvious from the outset, while others would require a small discussion regarding the nature of the threat. We will take a brief overview of the most critical reasons next to introduce key personnel in any creative agency to the possible dangers and their ensuing effects.
Most Creative Agencies are SMEs
It’s true that a large number of creative agencies are small groups of talented individuals. These smaller companies even handle a portion of the work that the bigger agencies outsource to them. This SME status of creative companies is an important consideration here because more than 70% of successful data breaches occur when it involves an SME. This usually happens on account of two primary reasons:
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SMEs have fewer resources to protect them against cyber threats
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They are often negligent towards implementing robust cybersecurity measures, thinking that they are too small to be attacked
Not only is it easier for cybercriminals to hack SMEs, but it’s also more time-efficient for them to attack multiple small companies online than to direct all their resources towards one or two large corporations with almost impregnable cybersecurity systems in place.
Creative Agencies Have Both Financial and Intellectual Property to Lose in Case of a Data Breach
First and foremost, all marketing and branding agencies have the same financial and other sensitive data at stake if their database is breached. Secondly, and even more importantly for marketing agencies, they stand to lose intellectual property. Unfortunately for companies who rely heavily on their intellectual data, the second type of beach can happen even if they take the usual list of common cybersecurity measures.
It is possible that while dealing with clients online, confidential intellectual property shared with them might be stolen by one of them, without the company even getting to know about it at the time. It isn’t entirely impossible for a third party to swoop in and steal the private documents either. To prevent either of that from happening, creative agencies have now started using virtual deal rooms. These are safe rooms that give creative teams complete control over their intellectual property, even after they share them with clients or potential clients.
Finally, an ad agency also has to consider the private client data which they hold in their database, and that they would be held legally liable for if breached and stolen. The bottom line is that while data security is critical for every company out there, it holds particular importance to creative agencies for numerous additional reasons as well. Any company that has not yet decided to protect the privacy and security of their online data is at great risk. They could be called akin to a ticking time bomb in the sense that a data breach is inevitable for them, without the proper security steps taken well in advance and at every step.
