THE RISE OF ENCRYPTION - David Bruno...But after Edward Snowden’s revelations, the issue of data...
Transcript of THE RISE OF ENCRYPTION - David Bruno...But after Edward Snowden’s revelations, the issue of data...
THE RISE OF ENCRYPTIONWhite Paper
In recent memory, in the developed world, it was easy to assume that our digital communications and data storage were secure, private, and somehow guaranteed by law. But after Edward Snowden’s revelations, the issue of data incursion and digital privacy was thrust to the forefront of our everyday lives.
A data breach or theft is a possibility most people and corporations are still in denial about. As the number and magnitude of data breaches increases, corporations get entangled in fighting the problem while ignoring the long-term structure of their technology.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and most corporations
have bought into the idea of improving encryption of their
communications and data because of the rise in data breaches.
A number of large companies have fallen victim to data theft
and the fallout has been too serious and too widely publicized
to ignore.
Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) have been getting
increasingly sophisticated. Experts pointed out that over 4,400
companies were being specifically targeted in over 55 countries
in 2016, which is a rise of 2.4x from 2014. These Data breaches
are expected to cost the global economy upwards of $2 trillion
USD by the end of 2019.
The number of these attacks are set to grow over the coming
years and even the most well-known technology companies are
not fully protected. Taking into account Yahoo’s 400million user
account hack, Equifax 143million hack, along with Apple’s
infamous iCloud breach shows how even the most valuable
tech companies on the planet are not adequately protected. The
threat is so serious that even tech-shy Warren Buffett
addressed it in his latest letter to shareholders.
Encryption, the Inevitability
This is the result of a number of factors:
A lack of Government standards: The field of data
encryption has moved from fringe military technology to
becoming a mainstream requirement in a very short time.
This means there is a lack of standards and that hurts us
all.
Mismanagement of multiple software vendors: As
companies expand their need for encryption grows and IT
departments tend to prefer ‘bolt-on’ solutions from a
number of different vendors. The lack of a common
platform for all communications and file storage at a
company makes effective management impossible.
IT-Management communication failure:
Тhis is a common problem, as CEOs and Managers fail to
understand the importance of thorough encryption and IT
departments fail to explain the technicalities effectively.
22% of small business leaders recently admitted they didn’t
know where to start when it came to data protection. In
fact, PWC pointed out that CEOs were generally
overconfident in their company’s ability to protect data.
There are a number of problems with the way encryption is
handled by companies today. The growth in demand has
been organic and over the years IT departments have failed
to implement cohesive strategies towards defending their
firm’s data.
The Lack of Protection
CEOs, Executives, Politicians and members of the General Public, must not be complacent when faced with such a severe and growing risk. It is the responsibility of all leaders to communicate with their IT advisers and figure out the weaknesses in their data storage and communications systems. Companies must act before a major data loss and not after the fact. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Message from David Bruno, CEO of SecureSwissData.com
Copyright © 2019
All leaders must act