How to plug the leaks and plan ahead.
Besides the recent cyber threat against Liberty Life‚ the personal information of many South Africans has landed up in the hands of cyber criminals, as a result of several data breaches in the past few months. And often where one least expects it.
Take ViewFines for example, a website for viewing traffic fines‚ which suffered a data breach in May. Nearly a million records containing close to 800 000 unique email addresses were leaked‚ including names‚ phone numbers‚ government-issued identity numbers and passwords stored in plain text. The leak only affected those who had registered to pay traffic fines online using the service provider sites.
In October last year, a much larger data breach was discovered where the personal information of just over 30 million South Africans was available to download. The breach‚ which remained undetected for months‚ contained the ID number‚ age‚ location‚ marital status‚ occupation‚ estimated income‚ physical address and cell phone number of those affected. In reality, we can only expect cyber-crimes to become more prevalent and severe. This means that there’s no time like the present to implement solutions that can help protect your clients’ data and reputation, while mitigating potential risks.
To help increase your protection and lessen your risk, we’ve identified a few simple, yet very effective solutions.
- Establish internal IT security policies
- Invest in the right technology
- Secure all devices and data access
- Implement a security education programme for employees
- Actively maintain compliance with applicable regulations
- Data Breach Insurance
Most business owners understand that the personally identifiable client information they have on their computers is a target for hackers and that their online presence leaves them open to liability claims. However, far fewer take adequate measures to protect their business. As the cost of data breaches continues to rise for many businesses, data breach insurance and cyber liability insurance help cover the costs of a data security breach for identity protection solutions, public relations, legal fees, liability and more, depending on the coverage you choose.
Data breach coverage lets your business take quick action to help restore the public’s confidence, if it’s hit by a cyber-attack and also provides access to professional assistance to help businesses comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Remember, no business, big or small, in any industry is immune to data theft and hacking!