Every week it seems there is another article about a company suffering a data breach, from Facebook to Google to Equifax.
As the world becomes more connected and businesses collect data at an increasingly rapid rate, hackers and cybercriminals are keeping pace with security protocols and consistently finding ways to get around them — sometimes almost as soon as they are implemented.
Data now is currency. In fact, many hackers would much rather steal consumer data than a finite sum of money.
While organizations must be in control of security and data protection obligations and practices, they must also be vigilant about how third-party service providers approach these crucial components.
The success of an organization depends on the security and resiliency of the third parties with which they partner and, often, share data. If companies do not thoroughly vet these providers, the consequences can be dire.
In 2018, large-scale organizations have experienced damaging breaches that affected not only their bottom lines but also their reputations.
One such incident involved Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor when cybercriminals tapped into an unsecured point of their sale system and stole more than 5 million customer credit card numbers.
In another instance, a chat and customer service vendor for Best Buy, Sears, Kmart, and Delta was hacked via malware and compromised credit card information, addresses, and other personal data of hundreds of thousands of customers.
These incidents and others like them have led to negative media attention and customer mistrust — two things any business must avoid at all costs.
In addition to damaging a business’s reputation, crimes like these are becoming more expensive as well, according to the 2018 Cost of a Data Breach study, conducted by the Ponemon Institute. The study reports the global average cost of a data breach rose 6.4% in 2017 to $3.86 million.
The average cost for each lost or stolen record containing sensitive and confidential information also increased by 4.8% year over year to $148. These costs may keep rising as data proliferates and the impact of a breach becomes more severe.
At Fusion, we can help you reduce the risk of cybersecurity issues, creating a secure information database. How can you avoid some of these cybersecurity issues and not become the next company? Check out how Fusion can help with your security issues.
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