As the issue of data ownership becomes increasingly complex, and the rights and responsibilities of those who manage and use it become more confusing, it’s perhaps unsurprising that a growing number of organisations don’t know where their data is.
And not only do they not know where it is, these days thousands of organisations don’t even know who is responsible for their business data, never mind who is accessing, using and sharing it.
Gone are the days when company data was held on onsite servers, managed by in-house IT departments, and shared only when necessary. Times have changed, and businesses desperately need to update their data protection and data transfer policies and solutions to reflect this altered landscape.
Not convinced? Here are just a few of the most startling data residency statistics to emerge over the past few years, they’ll have you prioritising finding a secure data transfer solution before you’ve got to the bottom of the page.
Data Residency – The Statistics
According to study by the Ponemon institute, 84% of organisations acknowledge that their staff have access to data for which they have no business need.
Consider this statistic next to one from a 2014 study from Globalscape, which found that in the past 12 months, 63 percent of employees have used personal email to send sensitive work documents, and 30% have turned to consumer cloud storage solutions.
In addition to this, the survey also found that a staggering 74% of respondents believed that their employer approved of this type of file-sharing behaviour.
Put simply, this is a data breach waiting to happen.
Unsecure Data – What are the Risks?
When a business doesn’t know who’s got access to what data, how it is being shared and where it is ending up, they’re opening themselves up to a number of risks, not least of which is failing to comply with data protection laws.
According to the Data Protection Act:
“Appropriate technical and organisational measures should be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.”
So, unless you can honestly say your business is doing everything it can to protect any personal data it might be holding, you could be asking for trouble.
As well as the obvious risks relating to a data breach, failure to comply with the data protection act can mean:
- Monetary penalty notices including fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches.
- Prosecutions and possible prison sentences for deliberately breaching the DPA.
- Organisations having to commit to a particular course of action to improve their compliance and avoid further action.
So What Can be Done?
Securing your business’ data starts with understanding your employees. In reality, they’re most likely not putting your business’ data at risk with malicious intent, but purely out of a desire to be as productive as possible, regardless of the impact that this has on security.
So what’s the solution?
Implementing an enterprise grade secure data transfer solution could protect your business from serious data breach. Driving productivity while offering security and control, solutions such as those provided by Maytech allow CIOs to easily comply with all relevant compliance standards.
Don’t leave your data at risk – find a secure data transfer solution that works for your business.
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Maytech’s dedicated file sharing infrastructure ensures your company can enjoy accelerated global data transfer, safely and securely, whenever you need. Maytech's secure cloud file transfer platform is used in mission critical workflows by some of the world’s leading organisations, find out more here.
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