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Survey of Enterprises Shows Data Breaches on the Rise
If you’re worried about cyber-attacks on your company’s data – and you won’t find many people in business today that aren’t – the latest survey confirms that the trend is on the rise. When Australian organizations were first studied a year ago by a US-based research body, 56% revealed that they had been hit by at least one breach in the past 12 months. Now the 2009 Annual Study: Australian Enterprise Encryption Trends has shown that the figure has soared to nearly 70%. The writing is on the wall: make sure you have a good computer forensics team on hand that can handle the sort of transactional analysis and investigation you need to avoid a ‘worry’ turning into a nightmare.
The Australian survey, carried out by The Ponemon Institute and the PGP Corporation, both involved in data protection, also reveals that the number of firms experiencing multiple breaches is up from 28% in 2008 to 41% this year. Of those organizations admitting to a breach in the last 12 months, 65% were never publicly announced. In many countries, there is no legal or regulatory obligation to disclose such penetrations, so the only thing we can be sure of is that we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. PGP president and chief executive, Phillip Dunkelberger, put this into perspective by noting that, “Data is being treated like currency by organised crime, and not just mischief-makers these days, and is now highly valuable.”
If you’re concerned about your company’s vulnerability, call in a rapid-response team without delay and put your mind at ease. Not only will you discover what sorts of breaches have occurred, but you can also put in place the protection you need as well as have your staff briefed on other dangers lurking in both cyberspace and on the ground.
In reaction to a number of high profile cases of lost and stolen laptops, together with the increased business use of smart-phones, this year’s study also assessed organisational approaches to encrypting data held on mobile devices. More than 64% of respondents said it was very important or important to encrypt employees’ mobile devices and 55% believed that it was very important or important to provide end-to-end email security for Windows Mobile 6.0/6.1 Professional Edition. Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of The Ponemon Institute, observed that, “There is encouraging news in the Australian market, with 85% of respondents stating that when they take a strategic approach to their encryption applications and use a platform approach it increases the effectiveness and efficiency of their IT security program.”
The primary benefits of the platform approach to managing encryption across the enterprise include reducing operational costs, eliminating redundant administrator tasks and supporting the development of a strategic encryption plan. Seventy-five per cent of Australian businesses have fully executed or just launched implementation of data encryption technology while 25% are in the process of implementing encryption to protect sensitive information.
This is a rapidly developing field and you need to keep up with the game. As The Ponemon Institute’s research in Britain and the US indicates, the cost associated with data breaches continues to rise. But while a rise is a rise, you need to be careful that one hefty penetration doesn’t cause your firm to crash before the price goes any higher.
