How Do You Acknowledge Data Privacy Day?
Unfortunately, security breaches are becoming more common than ever before. Varonis found that in the first half of last year, 4.1 BILLION records were exposed in security breaches. That’s a lot of private information! IBM found that on average, it takes 206 days to identify a breach of security. Imagine a hacker having THAT long to gather information from your network, including the following:
- Credit card information
- Corporate information
- Social security numbers
- Personally identifiable information
- Trade secrets
- Protected health information
Cybercrime is more sophisticated, coordinated, and targeted now than it was even a couple of years ago. The aftermath of data loss and/or disclosure is difficult for most businesses and consumers alike. Typically, businesses have to suffer from the high cost associated with recovery from a security breach – encompassing expenses related to:
- Recovering physical equipment and/or hardware
- Losing hours, or worse, days of productivity time
- Wasting payroll dollars on employees who are unable to work
- Missing important deadlines
- Losing customer trust and loyalty
- Being unable to respond to business opportunities
For consumers, the aftermath of having their information disclosed in a security breach can be incredibly stressful as they wait to see if they’re one of the unlucky ones who experience financial fraud and/or identity theft.
How Do You Plan on Acknowledging Data Privacy Day This Year?
In January 2008, Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada as an extension of Data Protection Day in Europe, which commemorates the signing of Convention 108 – the first international, legally binding treaty regarding data protection, that took place back in 1981. Data Privacy Day now takes place on January 28, 2020 and it’s the perfect time to reflect on the previous year’s efforts, your plans for this upcoming year, and whether or not you’re doing your due diligence.
What are your plans this year? Our recommendation… Get in touch with a local technology partner like Lan InfoTech to talk about cybersecurity. Our team would be happy to come in and chat with your employees about proper best practices, how to respond to threats, and other invaluable information they need to know. After all, they’re your first line of defense against threats.
Here are some tips to practice in the meantime – because on this day (and EVERY day) you should be keeping data security in mind:
- Use strong, complex passwords: Take a moment to review all of your passwords and update them to make sure they’re strong and complex. This means they’re a mix of characters, numbers, and letters and each online account has a unique password.
- Beware of attachments in emails: Most malware is spread through email so it’s important to avoid clicking on any attachments unless you know the sender sent you the email you’re reading. Verify by calling them if needed!
- Keep your systems up-to-date: Your hardware and software should be current and up-to-date with regular maintenance, including patches and updates, applied as soon as they become available.
- Maintain backups of your data: You need two forms of backups for your data: an onsite appliance and an offsite cloud-based solution. This will ensure your data is available no matter what happens.
Contact Lan InfoTech to Speak with One of Our Fort Lauderdale IT Support Experts About Data Security. Call (954) 717-1990.
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LAN Infotech is a Microsoft Cloud Services Provider, IT Managed Support company and a leader in helping law firms, nonprofits and medical organizations deploy cloud solutions, manage computer networks, keep data protected and top technology management company. Businesses like yours need technology support to run highly-effective organizations.
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