Without even knowing it, we, as individuals contribute confidential information to unintended people and databases through the internet. Something as benign as ordering a book on Amazon, checking the results of a medical test or updating our Facebook page unleashes an amazing amount of personal information about ourselves. When this information falls into the wrong hands the effects can be devastating. Recent events have been reported in various media regarding data breaches at Home Depot, Target, Citibank and several others. Once investigated, the methods used are amazing. Disgruntled employees deliberately collecting sensitive information and selling, others who unknowingly sabotage their employers by accepting a USB drive corrupted by virus, a repair company whose computer had been hacked into through an email account and infected – the stories continue…..
All major
communications companies and utilities have regular visits from the Department
of Homeland Security to review the attempted breaches into their networks as
identified by the FBI and other intelligence agencies. Any successful
cyber-attack to these entities infrastructure could have devastating effects on
our nation.
So, how do we
stay secure? As an individual, we are regularly told to change our
passwords or make them more difficult – how often do you do this? As an
employer/employee, we should be aware of simple things like anyone giving us a
USB drive as a gift, someone we don’t recognize coming in behind us into a
secure area, not leaving sensitive open on our desks or computers and, of
course, changing our passwords often. Data breaches will always be with us – it’s how we as individuals and companies plan, prepare and react to them that matter.
-Suzanne Beck
VP Business Development
Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation
No comments:
Post a Comment