Recently an attack lawsuit was filed against Sony Pictures from a group of its former employees. Personal information was leaked from 3,000 employees including social security numbers due to a serious hack on Sony PCs. (You can read the full article here).
As your partner in keeping your business risk-free of data leakage, we see this article as a reminder that your business is never too big or too small to be hacked. No matter what your business is, it’s important to protect confidential information. In the case of Sony Pictures, they had made a business decision to not invest in up to date security measures:
“…a September 2014 audit by PricewatershouseCoopers, which had warned that Sony’s information security and monitoring practices fell below “prudent industry standards.”
“… Sony “made a business decision to accept the risk of losses associated with being hacked”” 1
In today’s business environment, it’s important to protect your company against information fraud.
What can YOU do to protect your employees and business?
1. Set rules for document & data destruction all employees must follow.
How long do you allow people to keep documents on file? Do you have rules for archiving certain emails? Do you have an on-site security shred bin that is serviced regularly?
Enforce rules based on what is best for your company to thrive with limited risk of data being exposed. More helpful tips here.
2. Have a plan of action in the case of a hack occurring:
Work with your IT team to implement policies, technologies and strategies for preventing attacks, and if it’s too late, figure out how to quickly detect a data breach.
As mentioned in this CBS News Article by former director of the FBI, Shawn Henry notes “Organizations need to implement strategies, policies and technologies that allow them to detect these breaches when they occur, because then they can actually mitigate them.” 2
Taking the time to protect your employees and act fast on keeping data you must keep secure while properly destroying no-longer-needed data and documents can save your business and your company reputation.
Sources:
1. http://www.databreachtoday.com/sony-agrees-to-settle-cyber-attack-lawsuit-a-8520
2. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hacking-after-sony-what-companies-need-to-know/