12 risks of Xmas | no. 7

On the 7th day of Christmas... the wrong client got CC’d

When a Christmas party goes well, the morning after usually doesn’t. You still have to be fresh the next day, ready to tackle any client requests and provide advice or service they rely on. This is where you have to be at your 100%, as a wrong recipient in a confidential email or the wrong attachments within it can cause a hell of a storm.

What's at risk?

Sending a wrong email to the wrong email address might not only hurt your business' reputation, but also cause an accidental data breach, giving the recipient a free opportunity to use that data against you. It is half bad when your company information gets shared with the wrong person. When it comes to your clients' data, however, unintended information leak might cause damage of a different scale, involving a GDPR compliance lawsuit against your business, let alone damage to the relationship.

How to avoid it?

The first thing to do here is to brief your staff on the importance of staying alert during the busy times - from double-checking every piece of communication that goes out. Another sensible thing to do would be getting all the deadlines out of the way before letting your hair down during office festivities. A cyber breach might happen at any time, and staying alert, let alone having a proper damage control plan, is an integral part of your company's cybersecurity. The right cyber insurance cover, along with professional indemnity, will take care of your business even if something does slip through your hands.

Read about the 8th risk of Christmas.