The Importance of Data Security and Privacy in 2020 and Beyond
Data privacy has become an increasingly hot topic in the last decade. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, global cybercrime damages are predicted to reach $6 trillion annually by 2021. Unfortunately, cyberattacks and data breaches are only going to increase in size, sophistication, and cost.
In 2018 the average data breach examined across 16 countries and 17 industries was $3.86 million, but in 2019 the number rose to $3.92 million. While the immediate costs are staggering, compliance fines and the impact cyberattacks can have on the organization’s brand value, consumer trust, and organizational ethics can damage a company’s reputation for years to come. Below we’ll further discuss the importance of data security and privacy for enterprises and government agencies and show you what you can do to protect your organization.
1. Cyberattacks Lead to Massive Breaches of Personal Data
According to Risk-Based Security Research, in the first six months of 2019, there were more than 3,800 publicly disclosed breaches exposing 4.1 billion records globally. These breaches of personal data often exposed the individuals’ email addresses, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other highly sensitive data.
A breach of personal information is extremely damaging to an individual’s fundamental rights and freedoms. It also increases their risk of identity theft, which can lead to damaged credit, tax debt, a criminal record, and lost time and money. Breaches of personal data can also have serious consequences for your organization as well. It could place sensitive information about employees, customers, and intellectual property or trade secrets of the business in the wrong hands and hurt the company’s brand image.
A recent example of a breach of personal information is Singapore’s health data breach in January 2019. Confidential and sensitive information from 14,200 people diagnosed with HIV was stolen and released online. The information included personal data like names, phone numbers, and addresses with the HIV test results of 5,400 Singaporeans and 8,800 foreigners.
To protect the personal data of all stakeholders, government agencies and enterprises need to ensure that all their security solutions are up-to-date. Furthermore, they need to build cooperation at all levels of government or sectors within the enterprise and monitor access to all government or enterprise-related systems.
2. Data Privacy Regulations
While governments are often slow to enact data protection regulations, changes to data practices within the past decade are motivating them to update their existing laws so they can protect their citizens. Improvements to privacy laws are largely fuelled by the change in consumer attitudes and how they feel about corporations collecting, handling, storing, and using their personal data.
The EU, for one, has introduced significant reforms to legislation via the GDPR to protect personal information. The GDPR set a global example for other nations, by setting the bar high for consent. For example, any company that collects personal information on an EU citizen will require explicit and informed consent from that individual.
All companies should be ready to comply with increasingly strict requirements, as those that turn a blind eye will be at risk of facing steep fines, lawsuits, and other penalties. According to the PwC, companies that are not compliant with the GDPR can be fined up to 2% of their total global annual turnover or 20 million euros (depending on which amount is higher). This regulatory response shouldn’t come as a surprise. After major data breaches in the last decade, regulators around the world are beginning to update their laws and enforce new data privacy regulations so individuals can have greater control of their personal data.
To ensure that your organization is not in breach of data regulations, it’s important to ensure you’re collecting as little data as possible and that the information from stakeholders is handled, stored, and shared appropriately. Halting the use of consumer-grade file-sharing services and upgrading to an enterprise-grade file sharing platform that can give you full data control, full visibility, and monitoring and security features is a great start.
3. Degraded Reputation
While many organizations view privacy policies as a set-and-forget legal routine, such lax data security measures can have a detrimental impact on an organization. According to Centrify’s study, data breaches have a long-tail impact that affects shareholder value, customer loyalty, and brand reputation.
These consequences of a data breach lingering long after the incident are also evident in IBM’s 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report. In a sample of 86 companies around the world, an average of 67% of the costs of the data breach are incurred within the first year. 22% of the costs are incurred in the second year, while 11% of the costs occur more than two years after the breach.
While many organizations view privacy policies as a set-and-forget legal routine, such lax data security measures can have a detrimental impact on an organization. According to Centrify’s study, data breaches have a long-tail impact that affects shareholder value, customer loyalty, and brand reputation.
These consequences of a data breach lingering long after the incident are also evident in IBM’s 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report. In a sample of 86 companies around the world, an average of 67% of the costs of the data breach are incurred within the first year. 22% of the costs are incurred in the second year, while 11% of the costs occur more than two years after the breach.
Today, consumers are increasingly aware and concerned about cybersecurity risks. Unfortunately, not many organizations are doing enough to address these data security concerns. According to Daryl Pereira, Head of Cyber Security at KPMG in Singapore, “Companies which fail to embed privacy concerns into the DNA of their business strategy risk extinction.”
As data privacy and security become major issues for the next decade many companies are using this to their advantage. They’re aware of the damaging effects of a data breach on consumer relationships, brand value, and reputation. Furthermore, with increasingly tougher regulations a lax approach to personal data handling, collection, and storage could lead to steep fines.
In short, companies that invest in data security and privacy tools and measures gain a competitive advantage. Not only are they protecting their organization from a data breach, but such practices can also help them win the fight for consumer loyalty, as trust becomes an increasingly key strategic differentiator in today’s business environment.
If you want to invest in data security and privacy tools like an enterprise-grade file-sharing system, download our free trial today!
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