With the advent of the new European Data Protection Regulation, all companies globally are required to adhere to the law if they are storing or processing personal information of any European Union citizens. This means that US companies doing business with European countries in theory must adhere to the law. If they do not the potential penalties are €20M, or 4% of the previous year’s gross global turnover, whichever is … Read more
Insider Threats: 5 Ways your Company Can Protect and Secure Sensitive Data
09.08.2017, Security, by Phillip Robinson.Back in May, the “WannaCry” virus started hitting computer systems across the globe. Spread via a simple E-mail phishing scam, the virus exploited a Microsoft vulnerability to hijack victims’ computers, locking and encrypting data so that it became impossible to access with a key. The cyber attack crippled massively sensitive servers worldwide, bringing amongst others, the UK’s NHS, FedEx and Germany’s rail systems to a grinding halt. All in all, … Read more
To put it simply, in order to protect your sensitive data, you need to know exactly what data you are trying to protect. Data classification allows you to categorise information based on how sensitive certain data items are by injecting metadata into documents, emails, etc. This information can be used to alert users about the degree of sensitivity associated with the data they are handling. This is akin to putting … Read more
The Importance of Separating Duties and Auditing Critical Changes
08.30.2017, Auditing, by Phillip Robinson.Separation of duties (SoD) – also referred to as “Segregation of duties” – is a critical, yet often overlooked area of IT security. Essentially, the purpose of SoD is to help organisations protect themselves from fraudulent behaviour by ensuring that no single individual can act alone to subvert a critical process for their own personal gain. SoD is an area that comes under close scrutiny during compliance reviews, and will … Read more
How will the new UK Data Protection Laws affect your Business?
08.28.2017, Security, by Phillip Robinson.The UK Government has announced a new data protection bill that is designed replace the forthcoming EU GDPR. The bill is essentially an update to the existing Data Protection Act (DPA), that was introduced in 1998. Why has the Government decided to make these changes? As of the 25th of May, 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into effect, which sets out to “harmonize data privacy … Read more
SIEM (Security Information & Event Management) software is designed to assist organisations in detecting and reporting suspicious activity within their environment. SIEM solutions aggregate data in real-time from multiple sources within an IT environment and present the information via a single dashboard. SIEM solutions are useful; however, they also have many drawbacks. SIEM solutions can be complex Collecting the data and organising it into anything that you can derive real … Read more
What can Hospitals do to Protect Themselves from Cyber-Attacks?
08.23.2017, Security, by Phillip Robinson.According to data obtained by the BBC, “NHS hospital trusts in England reported 55 cyber-attacks in 2016” – 16 more attacks than in 2015. However, NHS Digital claims that this number doesn’t represent an increase in the actual number of attacks, but an increase in the number of reported attacks. Despite this claim, the information that came to the surface following the recent WannaCry attack gave us a clear indication … Read more
Understandably, organisations are feeling a growing sense of unease about forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It introduces a number of important changes to the current Data Protection Directive (DPD), such as increased territorial scope, stricter consent laws, hefty fines, breach notifications, enhanced data subject rights and specific design requirements that focus on data privacy. Additionally, many organisations will be required to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to oversee … Read more
According to Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report, 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses. In both the UK and US, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) account for approximately 99% of all businesses. To make matters worse, SMBs are usually less equipped to defend themselves against cyber-attacks due to the limited resources available to them. Additionally, cyber-attacks in the SMB sector are more likely to go unnoticed for longer periods of … Read more
The Number of Data Breaches are Increasing at “Record Pace”, According to New Report
08.11.2017, Security, by Phillip Robinson.According to the mid-year data breach report, published by the Identify Theft Resource center, the number of data breaches in the US have hit a 6 month record high of 791. Compared with figures from 2016, this represents a 29% jump in the number of reported breaches. Should this trend continue, it is estimated that the total number of breaches in 2017 could rise to a staggering 1,500. The ITRC … Read more