In this three-part series, we are going to dive into the world of security. We will discover how a lack of security can significantly impact your business. Firstly, we will discuss the implications of a breach of security and use a real-world scenario. Next week we will be focusing on what we can do to prevent this.
When communicating with clients, a key concern that always arises is the notion of keeping company data safe and protected. Some companies, particularly law/ finance related, need to keep records for a minimum 7-year retention period. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that this data is not vulnerable to loss/ theft.
The importance of having secure data is critical. There are multiple potential threats that can affect data. Such issues include human error (anything from accidently disposing of data in public to knocking a drink over your computer), physical disasters (fires/ flooding etc) as well as the more obvious hacking and illegal exploitation of data by unauthorized users. It is one thing losing confidential data (such as banking details, client records) for good but you have a even bigger issue on your hands if the data ends up into the wrong hands (Rival competitors, hackers etc).
Scenario
You may have read or at least heard about the recent cyberattack known as the ‘WannaCry Ransomware Attack’. Basically, the idea of this attack was to infect a computer and encrypt all the data. Once the data was scrambled, a screen would appear demanding a fee (‘ransom’) be paid to recover everything. This fee would increment over time and if it wasn’t paid before a certain deadline, all the data would then be destroyed.
This is just one of many methods of attack that can affect an individual/ business if appropriate security policies and procedures are not in place.
Lets take this attack and put it into some form of context using an example:
Imagine a lawyer who has the requirement of ensuring that they have the last 7 years of data securely stored, readily accessible at any given time. Can you imagine the crisis if this data had been compromised or worse destroyed with a court case was looming?
Take Home Message
If your data is secure, then you can sleep easy at night. If not, then consider that we have only touched on the some of the problems you could be facing.
Next week, we will begin to consider the solutions that can help mitigate such risks such as the use of back-ups.
If you can’t wait until next week, email us now at security@bangitsolutions.com and one of our technicians will get back to you promptly.
Thanks for reading,
Bang IT Solutions.