While many may believe cybercrime primarily targets large companies, franchisees running smaller operations may be at greater risk because their security defences are weaker than the bigger entities. In addition, smaller businesses are often part of a supply chain which offers openings to larger companies and larger networks.
For Franchisors, that represents significant brand risk. If franchisees aren’t managing their cyber risk, the franchise not only stands to suffer brand and reputational damage, but when incidents occur regularly, there is often a lot of time and costs involved.