Internet Privacy in the Digital Age
As Internet usage continues to grow all across the world, security risks have become a reality for businesses. Irrespective of the size and type of your business, you cannot ignore the possibility of Internet security risks. Online security risks pose a major threat to businesses as evidenced by the following recent events:
- In October 2013, 3 million encrypted customer credit card records were stolen
- In November 2013, 110 million customers had name, address, phone number and email address exposed
- In March 2014, 27,000 employees at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were affected by a data breach
Serious repercussions caused by security threats have led to IT security executives spelling out their fears. In the event of a data breach, IT security executives have expressed the following concerns:
- 62.7% of IT security executives fear negative publicity affecting the company’s reputation
- 9.8% fear a loss of sales or business
Online security risks pose a bigger threat for small and mid-sized businesses as reflected in the following findings:
- 50% of confirmed data breaches targeted small businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees
- 31% of cyber attacks targeted small businesses with fewer than 250 employees
- 193 incidents targeted small businesses with fewer than 100 employees
- 60% of small businesses fail within 6 months of a cyber attack
- 60% of small businesses say they do not have a privacy policy that employees must comply with when they handle customer or employee information
To learn more about information privacy in the digital age, check out this infographic created by Champlain College’s Online Master of Science in Law program, a non-J.D. degree for business professionals.
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