If your business were to be hit by a data breach, would it survive? Learn how to prevent insider threats and protect your customers’ data.

PCI (payment card industry) breaches are everywhere, and they’re not necessarily due to external hackers. Many of the top breaches occurred because of internal data leaks due to employee negligence or malicious insider jobs.

Whatever the cause – the damages to any business, regardless of size, can be crippling. Take Home Depot’s latest scandal, for example. It reached a settlement after their massive data breach exposed the email addresses and credit card details of more than 50 million customers. In addition to the $19.5 million it has already paid out in compensation, the home improvement retailer will pay an additional $25 million.

While these are staggering sums, a more pressing question arises: Can one really put a price tag on consumer privacy, security and trust? You can refund credit card charges and repay damages, but recovering your company’s reputation may prove to be far more difficult. And, while Home Depot, as a major corporation, will weather this financial storm, should the same type of financial penalties be levied on a small business, it would most likely be catastrophic. A recent study indicated that 60% of small companies that suffer a cyber attack of some kind go out of business within six months. >> Click to continue on Business.com