Employee Error Leads to Data Breach

Regardless of the industry that an organization belongs to, if it has valuable information stored on its servers, it will be a target for cybercriminals. The latest victim of an extensive data breach has been the non-profit regulatory sector. ITBusiness.ca reported that a Canadian organization suffered a massive security breach when a USB device containing substantial amounts of financial and personal information was lost. The data in question belonged to more than 50,000 clients of brokerage firms and included bank account numbers, social insurance numbers and birth dates. With that information, data thieves could profit immensely from illegal account access and identity fraud.

Employee apathy has been a major concern for enterprises looking to enhance their data security. Cybersecurity professionals need to worry about the risks presented by neglectful employees just as much as those with malicious intent. According to a recent Corporate Executive Board survey of 3,000 executives and more than 220,000 employees, 93 percent of workers admitted to violating information security policies because it interfered with their ability to effectively execute their duties. In order to prevent employees from becoming a liability to an organization's security network, managers need to impart the importance of data security solutions.

Failure to create a culture of data protection can result in many adverse effects for an enterprise. For instance, customer confidence can be irreparably damaged following a data breach. The Economist Intelligence Unit recently released a global study on consumer views toward the culpability of businesses that suffer from network intrusions. Thirty-two percent of the respondents said they would discontinue doing business with an organization that had experienced a data breach. Furthermore, of the individuals who had their information improperly accessed while stored by another enterprise, 38 percent reported that they had ceased conducting business with that organization because of security concerns. 

The potential cost of a data breach can be very high. In order to protect against cybercriminals, IT managers should employ data encryption software to protect sensitive client information. Furthermore, employees should be encouraged to adhere to strong data security solutions practices.