2014 is ending and 2015 is just a calendar page flip away. This means getting back into the normal work routine. But New Year’s is also a time to reflect on the past year and to make plans for the coming one. This is especially true for those that work in industries concerned with data security.
2014 was an especially frightening year for security. The year began with the fallout from Target’s high-profile data breach in 2013, which saw the payment card data of millions of customers compromised. Other major businesses such as hardware chain Home Depot and online retailer eBay also suffered a theft of customer information, as did J.P. Morgan and the European Central Bank. Most recently, Sony Pictures was hacked, resulting in the leak of private employee emails as well as the pirating of several motion pictures. All of these occurrences have directly affected the companies financially. On top of that, there was a high-profile cloud hack that resulted in private celebrity photos being stolen and leaked to the public.
If there’s a lesson to be learned from 2014, it is to be diligent. Some of the preceding breaches were the result of security measures that were outdated or careless employee practices. However, many breaches occurred despite a thorough IT security strategy. This is why it is critical to always be monitoring one’s network and data at all times. A breach can happen at any time, even to large organizations with many resources, and as 2014 illustrated, the results can be costly to one’s bottom line, as well as reputation.
We wish everybody a happy New Year. Hopefully, 2015 will be a secure year, for your data and your organization!
