When it comes to your professional New Year’s resolutions for 2023, make sure you put “get proactive about protecting my business from theft” on the list. Commercial thefts are on the rise as inflation, supply chain issues, and a looming recession makes the black market more profitable than ever. To keep thieves from putting a target on your business, make sure to take steps to protect your business from these top theft trends now…before it’s too late.
Theft is more than money
When people think about theft, the value of stolen goods is often top of mind. But the biggest risk threat poses to your business is operational downtime. If your fleet is stolen or inoperable because of theft, you can’t make deliveries or travel to job sites. Without cargo, you can’t manufacture products or deliver services. And if your computer servers are stolen, every bit of what was stored on those servers is gone – and that’s likely your entire business.
“Unplanned downtime costs manufacturers $50 billion per year.” – Deloitte
Every minute of downtime eats into your business’ profits, negatively affects your reputation and contributes to missed deadlines. To operate at peak efficiency, we’ve compiled five rising theft trends to protect yourself from in 2023 and beyond they are:
1. Vehicle Theft
“Nearly half a million vehicles were stolen in the first [6 months] of 2022…equating to an estimated $4.5 billion … a 25% increase over the first half of 2019” – National Insurance Crime Bureau
The price of used vehicles has skyrocketed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and used vehicles today command prices as much as 40% higher than at the beginning of the pandemic, so thieves are more motivated than ever to steal commercial vehicles.
2. Cargo Theft
With inflation making it more difficult than ever for people to buy the goods they need; a profitable black market has sprung up to fill the gap with items you likely have in your warehouse or transport via your trucks.
“Cargo theft losses in 2021 … totaled $57.9 million, translating to an average value of $172,340 per incident” – CargoNet
Cargo thieves use multiple methods to steal your cargo, and they’re developing more successful methods every year. Cargo theft is expected to rise throughout 2023. Knowing this, it’s important to stay ahead of the trend and start thinking about a proactive approach to protecting your business, profits, and people.
3. CPC and Catalytic Converter Theft
CPC modules and catalytic converters thefts leave vehicles inoperable. Unfortunately, they’re also in very short supply due to supply chain issues. Today, CPC module theft and catalytic converter theft are on the rise as demand surges and legitimate suppliers cannot keep up.
“Catalytic converter theft increased by 353% in 2021.” – National Insurance Crime Bureau
Both are easy to steal (gone in just a couple of minutes), highly profitable on the highly profitable underground market (A CPC module that retails for $1,400 can be sold for as much as $8,000 on the underground market), and full of valuable metals that can be sold as well. Make sure you are protecting your fleet from this rising trend.
4. Data Center Theft
Tangible goods aren’t the only profitable targets for thieves. Stolen data can be sold to cyber criminals at an incredible profit, fueling an ever-growing data theft industry. You think about securing your date but what about securing the facility that holds the data.
“In 2021, cybercrime cost American businesses $6.9 billion.” – Federal Bureau of Investigation
Data centers are targets for thieves because they’re chock full of data-saturated servers, computers, laptops, and more. The data center theft trend is expected to continue to grow in 2023, so if you haven’t been hit with a breach yet, it’s likely only a matter of time. Data security starts at your perimeter.
5. Internal Theft
Every business owner wants to believe they can trust their employees not to steal. Unfortunately, internal theft costs U.S. businesses $50 billion every year. Just because someone is on your payroll does not mean they’re loyal to your company.
“90% of significant losses come from inside jobs.” – Willis North America
While you can’t watch your employees every second of every day, there are things you can do to prevent losses from your employees and contractors so you can hold onto more of your profits in 2023.
Be Proactive
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