How has the security landscape changed over the course of 2019, and what can US organizations do to enhance their security strategy?
The number of reported data breaches have increased by 17% since 2018*. In total 164,683,455 sensitive records were exposed in 2019. This is a staggering amount of sensitive data breaches, and should therefore be considered a major concern that needs addressing.
The industries most affected
According to the same report, businesses received the highest number of breaches in 2019, with the healthcare sector following closely behind. When comparing this to the number of sensitive records exposed, the financial sector was the worst hit at 100,621,770, followed by the healthcare sector at 39,378,157. When you consider the highly confidential Personal Identifiable Information (PII) these industries are exposed to, this is not surprising.
The cause
So what can organizations do to protect their business from a breach? With hacking and unauthorized access being the two highest contenders for a breach to occur, organizations need to begin assessing their IT infrastructure. Firstly to ensure they have the correct security measures in place, including the ability to track activity, create an audit trail and ensure compliance, and secondly to ensure all hardware and software is properly protected.
With many organizations focusing their attention on cyber security, another important factor is being missed. Quocircas’ recent report** reveals that accidental actions of unauthorized users can have a detrimental effect on data breaches occurring. This includes authorized employees leaving highly sensitive data in a printer output tray for unauthorized individuals to access. With many organizations focusing their attention on protecting against malware attacks, this shows organizations need examine other areas which are just as vulnerable.
To provide your customers with an introduction into the print security landscape…
[Download the Quocirca Global Print Security Landscape Report, 2019 Now]
*Identity Theft Resource Center report
**Quocirca Global Print Security Landscape, 2019 Report
SOURCE Ringdale