I found myself in a very familiar place this weekend. The same place I find myself most weekends to purchase this or that. The same place I have spent a good deal of money at over the years...Home Depot. I went in to take my kids to the regular building event they have on the first Saturday of the month. While there I was thinking about a few things I needed to grab. WD-40, a GFCI receptacle to fix that issue in the garage, and some wood for my son to further develop his handyman skills. Right before we checked out I looked at my wife and said, oh crap they were just hacked. We then had to decide if we would complete our purchase or leave and go to Lowes which is right across the street, who happens to carry the exact same stuff at the same or similar prices.
This is not the decision you want your clients contemplating about your brand. It is hard enough to get a client in the door. Once they get there you have to make sure the environment is right, you have the right products on the shelves, the staff is friendly and helpful, and the experience is an easy one. You can work for years perfecting your brand and the client experience, however, hackers don't care. In fact they look for companies who have done just those things so they can take advantage of you.
We live in a new and complex world where cyber security is as important as brand marketing. We can solve the threat from credit card theft by all of us switching to cash, but we know that isn't about to happen. So what is your cyber security plan?