Data breaches have become an everyday event for businesses and individuals across the globe. Cybercrime is a growing menace, making it necessary for companies keep ahead of the criminals in implementing encryption technology to protect their data.
Consider the confidential information your company stores as electronic data, and ask yourself if you can afford to have it compromised. From business information to your clients’ sensitive data, exposure could lead to significant losses – including legal liability and regulatory fines. This is a real possibility if your organization must be compliant with FIRNR (financial), GLBA (financial) or HIPAA (healthcare) regulations.
An eye-opening article by Jon Ramsey and Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan, Chief Technology Officers for Secureworks® and RSA®, respectively, sheds a disturbing light on the pervasive threat of data breaches.
To quote: “As new technologies create opportunities to innovate and streamline, businesses must weigh the benefits against the associated security risks.
If the security incidents of the past 12 months have taught organizations anything, it’s this: it’s not a matter of if, but when an incident will occur. As such, cybersecurity is a top-of-mind business imperative – even at the C-Suite and Board levels.
As organizations adopt next-generation technology, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT), business leaders must work with their security teams to ensure risk management isn’t an afterthought.”
Other statistics reveal the following:
- 1 out of 131 emails contains malware, with 81% of the victims unable to detect data breaches.
- Most cyberattacks (43%) are aimed at small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).
- Cybercrime costs worldwide are expected to go up from $3 billion in 2015 to $6 trillion in 2021.
- In 2018, 54% of organizations had to bear the brunt of one or more successful attacks that compromised their data and/or IT infrastructure.
- 69% of companies believe that the antivirus solution they use can’t stop the threats they anticipate.
One of the most effective ways of protecting your data is through encryption technology. Whether it is your company secrets, intellectual proprietary content or personal information, encryption technology can prevent theft and tampering.
The use of encryption started during World War I to communicate coded messages over the telegraph. But, in modern times, encryption technology is a sophisticated coded algorithm that translates data into a code, which can then be stored and transferred safely. Cipher text, which is the encrypted data, can only be opened or decrypted with a password or key. With the use of encryption technology, you can make it difficult for hackers to steal your company or personal information.
Anthony Merry, director of data protection at Sophos, notes in an article for technology lifestyle website Alphr, “A data breach isn’t just data leaving the organisation – it’s data leaving in a form that’s usable to an attacker. If a hacker gets at your files, but only in encrypted form, they can’t do any harm.”
Reasons to use encryption technology include the following:
It provides complete security of your data at all times – Encryption technology protects data while in transit and at rest.
It protects your privacy – Encryption protects sensitive data, which includes personal information for individuals. It ensures that privacy and anonymity remain secure to eliminate the possibility of surveillance. This is currently a subject of controversy, as some government and law enforcement agencies claim that a “backdoor” to encryption technology is needed in certain cases.
It maintains integrity – Maintaining integrity of the data is as important as theft prevention. Hackers don’t just steal data; they can also tweak or alter it, leading to data fraud. Encryption technology prevents alteration of data, as well as theft.
It protects your data across multiple devices – People use many devices – such as desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones and other internet-accessible devices – and transfer data from one to the other. This is especially important in businesses that have a BYOD (bring your own device) policy, as employees who transfer sensitive information to their device run the risk of vulnerability to a data breach. Advanced device authentication features also prevent unauthorized users from accessing data.
It meets all compliance norms – As mentioned earlier, many industries must meet compliance regulations, which include the handling and storage of data (especially customer data).
If your business needs to protect its data and company information, eServe is a digital content transmittal program designed to keep all of your intellectual property and secured internal data protected from outside influence and risk. We are at the forefront of encryption technology, and have helped many businesses protect against data breaches. Contact us to learn about the solutions eServe can provide.
