Farida Gibbs, founder and CEO at Gibbs S3, comments: “These rising clean-up costs, and the impact of reputational damage on TalkTalk’s brand, highlight the compelling business case for implementing sophisticated cyber-security measures. Decision makers need to ensure that their IT infrastructures are robust and ready to withstand an attack. This infrastructure relies upon the expertise of a strong IT department, made up of skilled IT professionals who can ensure best practice is upheld across all business operations.
“Businesses may be averse to the expense of building this strong infrastructure, but firms who fail to prepare risk facing the prohibitive costs of a hack, an outlay which they cannot plan for. TalkTalk’s rising bill highlights just how unexpected the real price of a cyber-attack can be. Investing proactively to build digital talent is a wise decision in the current business climate. Companies should explore ways in which to retrain and up-skill workers, and consider adopting hybrid workforce solution strategies in order to ensure that they have the expertise to protect their operations from attack.”