Sometimes our businesses come under attack in a criminal sense, and this can fall into several categories. It could be a cyber-attack; these are more and more common these days, and there are different types, it could be fraud or theft if your digital banking or payments systems are compromised. Perhaps a disruption to your website or social media being hacked or attacked and brought down to cause havoc. There are also traditional thefts and burglaries or even just criminal damage to property. All of these will harm business, and no matter which type of attack you have suffered you will need to respond correctly.
Investigate the Facts
Firstly, call the police, every crime needs reporting. But conduct your own investigation as well, providing you are not disturbing a crime scene that has not touched yet. The more info you have can help and inform your subsequent choices and actions available. It can be done internally, or you could hire expert investigators to help out.
Check Your Insurance
As soon as any incident occurs, if it causes damage, either physical, financial, or reputational, it is best to check if your business insurance covers this. There will be a claim process, and the more you can show you have done everything correctly then the better chance a claim has. You should provide all details as well as the police incident number when reporting the incident.
Decide to Press Charges or Not
Deciding whether or not to press charges can be a difficult decision as it can involve more than just the concept of punishing the guilty or not. You may need to consider the PR aspect of it all. If it is sophisticated corporate thieves, then it’s a no brainer, press charges. But what if it’s some kids vandalizing the building, should you give them a second chance as it could have significant consequences to their lives, think about the ramifications, for example, when does vandalism become a felony?
Consider Future Deterrents
Since you’ve been on the receiving end of crime, it’s, no doubt, something you don’t want to happen again. So, it’s essential to consider how it happened and how to prevent reoccurrence. For physical break-ins, you should beef up security, consider fences, alarms, and CCTV. For cyber-crime, it’s the same thing, but in the virtual world, look at your firewalls, encryption of emails, files, and other messaging. Even get an internet security expert to assess and improve your systems and make sure everyone receives training in good online practices.
Assess Why they Targeted You
With every crime there is a reason behind why it happened. You should take the time to think about why it was that you were targeted. Opportunistic, you forgot to lock a door, or security is weak. Was it due to someone bearing a grudge? Maybe due to a political opinion. Or it could just be bad luck, and the perpetrators happened to be passing your place at the wrong time. If there is anything you can do to minimize the chances of it happening again then do what you can.