The recent Square Outage was a major blow to small businesses around the country, causing a massive loss of revenue and leaving many businesses crippled in its wake.
The problem began when Square, a payment processing service used by small businesses, suffered an outage on May 17, 2020. The outage lasted nearly four hours, causing millions of dollars in lost revenue. Customers couldn’t purchase goods or services using Square as the system was down.
Although the company’s website was down, their customer support staff was still accessible and provided guidance on how to resolve the issue. Despite this, the damage had already been done for many small businesses, as customers were already gone and unable to make the purchases they intended to make.
Overall, the Square outage is estimated to have cost small businesses up to $8 million in lost revenue.
For the businesses affected, the cost of the outage went beyond the revenue they lost. Many businesses had to pay out-of-pocket costs associated with the issue, such as covering the costs of alternative payment methods. Additionally, data breaches may have occurred, potentially resulting in more losses for businesses.
The Square outage serves as an unfortunate reminder of how vulnerable businesses can be to cyber threats. For small businesses, the costs of outages typically go beyond lost revenue – they can include other costs such as data breaches and legal fees.
It’s essential for small business owners to take steps to ensure their business is protected from cyber-attacks. Investing in security protocols, training employees on cyber awareness, and monitoring the system for suspicious activities are essential steps businesses can take to protect themselves from outages and other cyber-attacks.
For Square customers, the incident serves as a lesson on the importance of choosing secure payment processing solutions. With the right providers, businesses can rest assured that their payments will go through, preventing them from losing customers and risking potential data breaches.
