All businesses need to be aware of the immense threat they face in the era of digital information and process management. Here are a few statistics to keep in mind:
Cover all your bases
Information technology systems continue to diversify. You'll need to ensure the following areas are covered by intelligent policies and programs:
Train your employees
Sixty percent of more than 600 security professionals surveyed by Experian and the Ponemon Institute argued staff members were the biggest source of risk when it comes to protecting data. At the same time, 60 percent of companies do not adequately train employees.
Implement training policies to ensure employee negligence does not become an issue in your security programs.
Consider data breach insurance
This is a relatively new type of insurance, but data breach coverage is spreading quickly. The Insurance Information Institute forecasted the data breach insurance industry to triple in size between 2014 and 2020. This coverage can help to offset some of the more severe financial damages that accompany hacking events, allowing the business to live on regardless of how damaging the breach might have been on paper.
By being proactive, intelligent and informed in the fight against hacking, you can better protect the integrity and sustainability of your company.
See your independent agent for more information.
- The Identity Theft Resource Center recorded 781 data breaches in the U.S. in 2016, with businesses accounting for nearly 40 percent of the events.
- Experian found 50 percent of American organizationsexperienced one or more data breaches in 12 months leading up to its 2015 survey.
- IBM and the Ponemon Institute's research discovered the cost of each stolen record rose from $145 in 2014 to $154 in 2015, and the average price tag of a data breach increased to $3.79 million in that time.
Cover all your bases
Information technology systems continue to diversify. You'll need to ensure the following areas are covered by intelligent policies and programs:
- Networks: Make sure defenses are in place to avoid Distributed-Denial of Service attacks - when hackers cut off the company's access to networks to have free-reign over the systems - as well as intrusions and other hacking threats.
- Data Storage: Information storage environments, such as data centers and cloud apps, must be fortified and monitored at all times.
- Endpoints: Computers, mobile devices and other gadgets represent "endpoints" and some of the more heavily targeted assets by hackers. Incorporate management and security tools to protect them.
Train your employees
Sixty percent of more than 600 security professionals surveyed by Experian and the Ponemon Institute argued staff members were the biggest source of risk when it comes to protecting data. At the same time, 60 percent of companies do not adequately train employees.
Implement training policies to ensure employee negligence does not become an issue in your security programs.
Consider data breach insurance
This is a relatively new type of insurance, but data breach coverage is spreading quickly. The Insurance Information Institute forecasted the data breach insurance industry to triple in size between 2014 and 2020. This coverage can help to offset some of the more severe financial damages that accompany hacking events, allowing the business to live on regardless of how damaging the breach might have been on paper.
By being proactive, intelligent and informed in the fight against hacking, you can better protect the integrity and sustainability of your company.
See your independent agent for more information.
