By know we have all heard the term "security breach". In the past this was usually about "top secret" information being lost, or an intruder gaining access to a restricted area. In 2008 it has a whole new meaning. Security breach now has to do with the loss or exposure of personally identifying information. A business in some way fails to protect the personal information of their clients or employees Identity thieves can get their hands on this information and wreak havoc in the lives of the people who are doing business with you. This is a major problem in America today.
In 2007 there were 312 breaches world-wide, out of those 265 originated with U.S. businesses both large and small. As of 1-26-08 there have been 23 confirmed breaches according to attrition.org According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse 217,555,182 individual confirmed records have been affected. This does not take into account breaches where the number of affected records is unknown, so the actual number is much higher. This is a running total from January 2005.
This should alarm everyone since there are only around 300 million people total in the U.S. Maybe you are lucky enough to be among the 12.5 million not affected. but odds are you are not.
Why does this mean anything to you as a business owner? Well for one thing federal laws on information security such as FACTA, HIPAA and GLB. Each of these laws assess fines, liability and damages to you the business owner in the event of a breach.
Now think about your customers, When they give you information they are trusting you to safeguard it. If you allow information to be lost through negligence, oversight, accident or lack of education of your employees, how trustworthy are you?
It's a totally different matter if someone breaks into your business and steals a computer with the information on it. The truth is breaches caused by hackers or thieves account for only 20% of the total, guess where the other 80% comes from. That's right internally generated by you or your employees due to negligence, oversight, accident or lack of education.
It's time to think about protecting this information and educating yourself and your employees on information security. An information security consultation costs you nothing, however it can point out where you have issues in your security plan. If you have questions or would like more information on how to protect your business against information security breaches contact me. I will be happy to answer your questions. http://www.jaxtr.com/legallady01
