Poor cybersecurity policies can severely impact business continuity.

Inadequate
security measures can expose companies to cyber attacks, leading to disruptions in
operations, financial losses, and damage to their reputation. In this essay, I will
explore the impact of poor cybersecurity policies on business continuity and provide
two examples to support my argument.

Firstly, data breaches caused by poor cybersecurity policies can compromise sensitive
information such as customer data, trade secrets, and financial information. This can
result in substantial financial losses and harm to a company's reputation. In 2017, one
of the largest credit reporting agencies in the United States, Equifax, experienced a
data breach that affected over 140 million customers. The breach occurred due to a
vulnerability in the company's website software that was not properly secured. The
outcome of this breach was significant financial losses and significant damage to
Equifax's reputation.

Secondly, poor cybersecurity policies can also lead to service disruptions and system
downtime. Cyber attackers may use distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to
target a company's systems, causing them to overload and crash. This can result in
prolonged downtime and substantial financial losses. In 2016, a leading Internet
performance management company, Dyn, experienced a massive DDoS attack that
caused widespread service disruptions. Major websites such as Amazon, Netflix, and
Twitter were affected, resulting in significant financial losses for these companies.

In conclusion, the impact of poor cybersecurity policies on business continuity is

significant. Companies that do not prioritize cybersecurity risk exposing themselves
to data breaches and service disruptions, which can result in financial losses and harm
to their reputation. To prevent these disruptions, companies must make cybersecurity
a priority and invest in robust security measures to protect their systems and data.