Monday, February 8, 2016
"How to avoid data breaches and data loss in 2016"
As our technology is growing, data loss and data breaches are becoming more and more common among large businesses. The article "How to avoid data breaches and data loss in 2016" starts by explaining to the readers the actual risks of data loss and data breaches. The financial effects of data loss can be enough to shut down a company. The author explains that "72 percent of businesses that suffer significant loss of data close their doors within two years". The author then breaks down 5 things that need to be done in order to prevent data breaches and data loss. These 5 things are installing effective virus protection, changing passwords, creating data protection policies, securing document workflows, and securing print network and practices.
One of the most important points that the article talks about is installing virus/malware protection across organizations. This is one of the most crucial but basic things a company can do to prevent data breaches. Often times, companies make the mistake of only having security on their laptops and desktops, but neglect having the same level of security on their tablets and smartphones.
Another huge part of data breaches are passwords. These passwords "become less effective at securing your data the longer they remain unchanged". Passwords are exposed through hacking and social manipulation. They can also be exposed due to people with incredibly simple passwords. According to gizmodo.com, the most common password of 2015 is "123456" and the second most common password is the word "password".
An important point that the article brings up is the fact that not only digitally stored information can be stolen. The article suggest to secure print networks and practices by using "software-based print management solutions which make it possible for you to control who is printing, require that they be at the printer iteself to release the print job, and keep track of who is printing what".
I thought this article gave a good list of five strategies to avoid data loss in the information technology department. However, I thought the article lacked supporting details such as statistics and examples. An abundance of heavy facts and stats would further scare readers into being more preventative with their data. The article discusses the effects that data loss has on business' reputation and their financials, but it doesn't go into detail about the effects it has on individuals who lose data due to poor password selection or having poor data protection. Lastly, I would have liked to see the article touch upon what data breaches were like in years previous (increase or decrease in numbers), as this only talks about 2016.
Sources:
http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/running-a-business/technology-in-business/2502516/how-to-avoid-data-breaches-and-data-loss-in-2016.thtml
http://gizmodo.com/the-25-most-popular-passwords-of-2014-were-all-doomed-1680596951
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hearing about data breaches have become a big part of our world and big companies as well as the public are affected. It is no wonder why companies like Apple are constantly updating their software to prevent hackers. We need to be diligent in keeping all our technology up to date and not sharing passwords with colleagues and friends. As the article pointed out we need to change our password to make them more effective. Although we all know the importance of changing passwords it is something we rather not do. Mainly because changing it means one more password to remember. I remember when everyone tried to make their password the same for everything so it was easy to remember. But as the Internet began to grow companies wanted six characters, numbers or symbols, which made using the same password impossible. Maybe we should follow Apple’s idea of using fingerprints since there is nothing to remember and will make for easy access.
ReplyDelete