article published today, a survey from CDW has revealed that one in four businesses has suffered a data loss in the past two years. Even worse, additional info from Symantec has shown that the industry with the highest rate of data breaches is the healthcare industry. With so many processes being moved online, it’s absolutely critical that any organization that stores or maintains personally identifiable information (PII) protects themselves and their clients by securing their data. How can that be done?
- Managed Security – firewalls can prevent inbound attempts against the network, block services known to be used to intercept data, and help stop employees from visiting insecure sites that could host malware and trojans.
- Encrypted Email – in the event that information needs to be transmitted, encrypted email can help make sure that any mis-sent or intercepted messages cannot be read, and customer/client data isn’t exposed.
- Offsite Data Backups – when data IS lost, perhaps due to intrusion or something as “minor” as a hard drive failure, making sure client data is securely backed up offsite on a daily basis can help make sure a business is not brought to a standstill (not to mention helping avoid penalties and fines that come from a data loss, along with the PR hit).
- Internal Policies – as the article above mentioned, an employee used personal email to transmit thousands of secure client files. Every business should have their own security policies in place, along with Acceptable Use Policies, to make sure events like this don’t happen.
- Remote Site Security – many organizations share databases between multiple offices and employees who are on the road or telecommuting. It’s critical to make sure that any external access to your data is secure and encrypted, as well as logged in the event of a data loss or breach.
