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In some important ways, the media has a tendency to distort the reality where hacking and data breaches are concerned. The stories that tend to make the headlines are the external breaches that see hackers making off with tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of customer records.
They’re good stories. They get clicks and generate ad revenue, but they’re actually not the most common types of data breaches.
The most common breaches tend to come from inside your own company, and from the ranks of your own employees, which are simultaneously your most valuable asset and your biggest risk. Understanding and accepting that reality is the first step toward further bolstering your firm’s digital security.
Understand that not all employee-related data breaches are intentional. In fact, many are anything but. If an employee hasn’t been properly trained on data handling procedures (especially where HIPAA or other sensitive data is concerned), he or she could cause a violation with no malicious intent whatsoever. This would not prevent the company from being hit with a stiff fine for the violation, of course, and should be remedied with all possible speed.
In a similar vein, if an employee accidentally opens an email from the wrong person, or clicks on a poisoned URL, it’s hard to describe these acts as having malicious intent, but the damage they can do to your company is quite real.
Fortunately, these types of issues, although more common than you might be comfortable with, are also the easiest to correct. Fixing them generally takes two forms: First, better and more robust data handling and audit procedures, allowing your upper management staff to better track and monitor how company data is used, and second, better and more comprehensive training. It does no good to have one without the other.
If you’re concerned about the state of your firm’s digital security, contact us today. We’ll put you in touch with a member of our knowledgeable staff, who can help assess the current state of your digital security, and custom-design a plan that will maximize your protection against potential threats, both internal and external.