The threat of a data breach looms over every modern business and institution. With recent estimates showing that data is more valuable than oil, government organizations, hospitals, and businesses all need to make sure that their data is treated carefully so that it stays protected.
But it isn’t just the loss of valuable data that organizations should be concerned about. The fallout from a data breach extends far beyond the immediately compromised files.
In this post, we’ll take a look at the ways a data breach can affect your organization beyond simple data loss. We’ll see that the consequences are far-reaching and that the protective measures must, therefore, be equally powerful.
Ransomware
One of the main fears that accompany a data breach is the threat of ransomware. While there are many different kinds of ransomware – recent ones include the likes of Ako or Ragnarok – for the most part they all attempt to render your data unusable until you pay the attackers a ransom.
Examples of organizations and businesses crippled by ransomware regularly dominate the IT news headlines and the attacks are almost always accompanied by enormously high ransom demands. A recent report showed that:
- 51% of organizations were hit by ransomware in the last year. In 73% of these attacks, the criminals actually succeeded in encrypting the data.
- Only 26% of victims whose data was encrypted received their data back by paying the ransom.
- 59% of attacks involved data being stored in the public cloud. It’s becoming clear that cybercriminals are increasingly capable of targeting data wherever it is being stored.
In short, the impact of a data breach can go well beyond simple data loss. It can cause your system to be infected with ransomware resulting in outrageous demands without any guarantee of ever regaining access.
With ransomware attacks becoming all-too-common and cybercriminals becoming more capable – not to mention malware automation that is wreaking havoc with traditional email security platforms – it’s clear that the conventional solutions are simply not cutting it.
Potential Lawsuits Aimed At Your Company
In recent years, governments have become more aware of the value of consumer data. To that end, laws demanding that organizations protect their user data have been passed all over the world. This means that a data breach can potentially open your organization up to being sued.
For example, the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago is being sued by the parent of a patient after it was revealed that the patient’s personal data file had been viewed by an unauthorized employee.
Apparently, two “bored employees” had been accessing and viewing thousands of private patient files. The employees in question were fired by the hospital, but the damage had already been done. The hospital did not have appropriate security measures in place to keep sensitive data from being viewed by unauthorized people. This also shows that data security can be compromised from both within and outside of a company.
Governments and courts are really cracking down on organizations that do not store and protect data effectively. It doesn’t matter whether your organization is in the public or private sector; precautions must be taken to ensure the safety of your data.
Irreparable Brand Damage And Client Loss
Even if you manage to avoid ransomware and litigation, a data breach can still destroy your reputation and ruin client trust. This is particularly threatening for large companies that need to maintain their public image. For example, the domain registrar company GoDaddy recently disclosed that they were victims of a data breach.
GoDaddy has over 19 million customers and manages over 77 million domains, making it the largest domain registrar in the world. The breach gave the attacker access to the secure shell, or SSH, a network protocol that allows system administrators to access remote computers.
Another high profile data breach occurred recently at the well-known entertainment law firm of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks.
The firm announced that its internal data systems were hacked and an enormous amount of information about its A-list clients – including pop-culture giants like Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen – was stolen.
High profile organizations like GoDaddy and entertainment law firms need to maintain their image as reliable partners if they are to continue to enjoy success. If clients and partners begin to suspect that their data is not being protected, it could prompt them to take their business elsewhere.
It’s critical for any organization to maintain an image of responsibility and safety, especially with regards to client data.
An All-Encompassing Approach
Threats like ransomware, breaches, litigation, and brand damage might seem like they need to be tackled in completely different ways. But if businesses and organizations had systems in place that protected consumer and client data, regardless of its form or location, all these problems would fall away.
ITsMine’s Beyond DLP™️ is that service.
Beyond DLP™️ is a leading Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution that protects against both internal and external threats automatically. By planting SoftwareMines™️ throughout all company data, it can alert you when any data is sent, received, or accessed by an unauthorized party.
Beyond DLP™️ will monitor, protect, and verify all information and data access using a proactive approach to protect data within company boundaries and beyond.
To find out how ITsMine can safeguard your data, schedule a demo.