Will You Experience The Next Data Breach?

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/security/security-management/will-you-experience-the-next-data-breach-185655

Nearly half of IT and IT security professionals across global businesses
and government agencies have suffered a security breach in the last 24
months.

Headline grabbing hacks such as Talk Talk and Sony are putting both
personal and corporate data increasingly at risk as growing numbers fail to
keep personal information secure.

Malicious intent

Recent news has seen data breach after data breach including those of
communications giant TalkTalk, whose customer information was compromised
due to a data breach by a third party, and even the Sony hack, where a lack
of secure computer systems led to a release of confidential data. Whether a
result of malicious intent or simple human error, it is clear that
mismanagement of sensitive information is commonplace. A data breach puts
your businesses reputation at risk, damages consumer trust and can impact
the bottom line.

So who exactly is to blame when a data breach occurs? According to the IBM
security services 2014 cyber security intelligence index report, over 95
percent of all incidents investigated recognise human error as a
contributing factor of security incidents. An employee more than likely
deals with valuable and confidential information on a daily basis. While it
may not be the next Coca-Cola recipe or finer details of Apple’s iPad Pro,
it could still be confidential information which, if it fell into the wrong
hands, could have significant repercussions for the business.

Although most cyber attacks are simple and predicable, it’s not always an
outside threat that businesses need to be aware of. If employees are
handling corporate information regularly, they may not always treat it with
the care and attention required and this is where preventable data breeches
can occur. All it takes is an employee to accidentally email the wrong
person and the ramifications can be severe.

To avoid this, it can be as simple as just applying additional checks when
completing routine tasks. But the buck doesn’t stop with your employees –
you, as their employer, should provide regular training to help them
understand the important role they play in reducing the risk of a breach,
as well as driving and supporting a change in behaviour business-wide to
reduce the risk of error.

In many ways, it’s about respecting and protecting the value of the
information that your company holds and being part of a culture that is
built on information responsibility. After all, you want to make sure that
your business isn’t involved in the data breach you read about in next
week’s news and you definitely don’t want to damage relationships with your
customers.

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