Sixty percent (60%) of organizations surveyed acknowledge that data loss is a recurring problem, according to Accenture’s study on “How Global Organizations Approach the Challenge of Protecting Personal Data.” The study reminds us that “data privacy and protection shortcomings can do irreparable harm to companies’ balance sheets, not to mention their brands, credibility and customer trust and relationships.” We’ve seen this, some of us have experienced it. This knowledge however should not paralyze us but galvanize us into action to create programs and security initiatives that create a culture of security and protect our customer’s personal data, daily. We need to ensure that we are in continuous compliance with data privacy laws. We owe it to our customers, we owe it to our board members and we owe it to ourselves.
The study goes on to say that “Fifty-eight percent (58 %) of organizations surveyed have experienced at least one data security breach over the past two years, however 73 percent said their organization has adequate policies to protect the personally identifiable information (PII) it maintains.”
These figures make one thing very apparent. Organizations do not have adequate policies to protect PII. Then again perhaps my adequate and their adequate are not the same thing. Adequate to me compels an organization to have continuous security programs in place, not just when the auditors are knocking. Another key finding showed that the biggest causes of data loss are internal. How then can organizations claim to have “adequate controls” when a big part of the problem lay within? Forty eight percent (48%) attributed data loss to employee negligence, while fifty seven percent (57%) blamed business or system failure.
Information silos breathe proprietary information and can lead to fraudulent activity. Collaboration however promotes visibility and transparency allowing organizations to better protect data. Seems to me that we still have a lot of work to do to create more data transparency and a culture of security within our organizations.
Do read the entire study, it is quite revealing.