Data breaches: The dangers and consequences

This is the second article in a series on data breach risks. It covers issues such as regulatory compliance, costs, reputation loss, and other related topics. We will be discussing the different cyber threats and the possible consequences for businesses affected by data breaches in “Threats & Consequences”.

Data breaches are when an individual or group of individuals is allowed to view data that they aren’t authorized to. This is described in the “What You Should Know” article. They can also steal the data and make changes to it once they have it. The consequences of data theft can vary depending on what type of data is involved. They could destroy or corrupt databases, leak confidential information, or steal intellectual property. There may also be regulatory requirements that notify the affected and compensate them.

Bloomberg reports that data breaches increased by 40% in 2016 compared to 2015. These incidents can have severe consequences and may even result in a company losing its ability to do business. Businesses must identify and minimize their exposure to potential threats.

Data Breach Targets

Only business data can be made a target if it has any value to third parties. Different types of data can be more or less valuable to third party and pose different risks to businesses. These are the types of data that you will find:

Personally Identifiable information. This data includes contact information, social security numbers, birth dates, education, and other personal information.

Financial Information. This data includes bank account details, investment details, and expiry dates.

Health Information. This includes information about health conditions, prescription drugs and treatments, as well as medical records.

Intellectual Property. This includes product drawings, manuals, specifications and scientific formulas, as well as marketing texts and symbols.

Information on Competition. This information includes information on competitors, market studies and pricing information.

Legal Information. This includes documents regarding court cases that the company might be pursuing, legal opinions about business practices, merger-and-acquisition details, and regulatory rulings.

IT Security Data. This data includes user names, passwords, encryption keys and network structure.

These types of information are attractive to third parties who value them. You can sell personal, financial, and health information to use for fraud, marketing, and identity theft. You can sell intellectual property and use it to create products and services that are similar to your business.

Competitors can sell your information to use it against your plans. Leaked legal information could also be used to harm your legal position. Because it allows unauthorized parties to gain access all other types of information, data on IT security can be a valuable target.

Data Breach Threats

Your employees, suppliers and consultants can all pose threats to the various types of data. If your company stores data in the cloud, they can access your data via your network, external email accounts, mobile devices, and inside your organization. These threats are not being stopped by traditional perimeter protection.

Insiders can cause data protection to fail. Employees who are unhappy may leak sensitive information. Emails and malicious websites can be used by external individuals to install malware on employees’ computers. They can also get passwords and user names that way. Your cloud service supplier may have access to your cloud data, and employees can lose, hack or compromise email accounts and mobile devices. Companies must identify the risks associated with data breaches and develop solutions to reduce them.

Data Breach Consequences

Cybersecurity attacks can have serious and growing consequences for businesses. This is due in part to the increased regulatory burden of notifying the affected individuals. There are different requirements for notification and penalties for businesses that have suffered a data breach, depending on where they are located in the United States or Canada.

Customers who are the victims of a data breach must be identified and notified by companies. The regulations define what data must be notified after a breach, who must be notified and how notification must be done. They also define which authorities should be notified. Notification requirements are usually required for breaches that involve personal, financial or health data. However, the exact definitions may vary from one jurisdiction to another. International companies may have customers in multiple jurisdictions. They may need to comply with many requirements. This can lead to companies being considered an existential threat due to the high legal penalties, potential damages compensation and possible lawsuits.

Data breaches that involve other types of data could have a devastating impact on a company’s reputation and business position. Data breaches can also impact contractual obligations and could affect the sale of a company, such as what happened recently with Verizon’s purchase of Yahoo. Your business may not survive if your competitors learn your business strategies and can market similar products at a lower cost. That’s why you need to have a robust and effective data services Charleston SC.

Solutions to Reduce Risk

You can maintain your perimeter security and other protection measures, but you also need a data-centric solution to allow you to control who has access to specific files or data sets. This level of control can be achieved with encryption, but it must be the right type of encryption. You can restrict who can access a file or email by encrypting it properly. Even if your IT system is compromised and unauthorised individuals gain access, they won’t be able read the data. This prevents data breaches. This application will reduce data breach risk to acceptable levels, and protect your business against costly data breaches.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you need the help of professional It experts to assist you with your cybersecurity needs.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Charleston, SC 29407
843-418-4792
https://manageditservicescharleston.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston