From employee errors to the activities of malicious actors, there are numerous scenarios that can lead to data breaches. Something as minor as an email being wrongly addressed can result in confidential information being exposed, while a threat operator penetrating a server or company email account can steal a wide range of data.
Whether this information is leaked publicly following such an incident does not matter to data regulators. As soon as private or personally identifiable information (PII) is viewed or accessed by an unauthorised entity, it constitutes a data breach.
Disruption and downtime
Data breaches can cause chaos for companies. When incidents are identified, companies must act. Systems must often be shut down, investigations undertaken, those involved must be contacted, and reports to regulators should be written. All these actions take time and energy, and derail firms from normal business operations.
An expensive business
Data breaches can result in excessive costs for companies. Along with operational downtime, forensic investigations can be expensive, as can buying and applying new security measures to mitigate future breaches.
If companies are found to have neglected information security, they may need to compensate any data subjects impacted by the leak. If data regulators like the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) judge an enterprise to have acted without due care and a leak to be the result of this, the fines can enter into seven figures.
Effectively, this gives a data breach the capacity to cripple a company economically, and the damage doesn’t stop there.
Long-term damage
Firms can also face long-lasting effects from a data breach which can negatively impact their future. The inability to keep confidential data secure and a reputation for being tricked by cybercriminals can damage the public image of a company. This leads to a lack of trust that can see clients and customers look for a new business to deal with, and even reduce the value of an enterprise’s stock on financial markets.
Keep compliant and protect your data today
With extensive experience of helping businesses, universities, and government offices to safeguard their data against potential breaches, we at Galaxkey have created a secure system that is packed with powerful tools.
We understand the disruption and devastation data leaks can cause for organisations and have assembled an innovative toolkit designed to keep confidential information secure and companies compliant.
Our electronic document signing feature allows firms to show a full history of all interactions and amendments to sensitive content, and can verify identity. Files or emails containing PII on data subjects can also be encrypted. This ensures that whether information is being stored in the cloud or on servers and devices, sent in emails or shared with colleagues and contact, only those with authorisation can access it.
Both the ICO and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre both advise the use of data encryption as a solution to protect against data breaches, whether they are caused by a concerted attack or in error.
To avert a damaging data breach at your business, get in touch with our technical team today and access a comprehensive data security solution.
