Data privacy day is commemorated every January 28. It is a day for company data managers, and members of the public to ensure they are complying with laws and regulations, as well as protections. It is something Levvitate considers every day in our work in IT project management and training. Whether its company sales and margin information, health data or academic records, all organizations have some type of data that needs protecting.
Companies work to block unauthorized access to their networks, using firewalls, DMZ, virtual machines and other system protections. As trainers and educators, we also are responsible to protect student academic and personally identifiable data. As the system protections are developed, it is important not to overlook the human, or social aspect of data protection.
Inside Man was a movie starring Denzel Washington as a detective trying to identify suspects in a bank robbery. Finding the thieves was complicated by the fact that they mixed in with the hostages in the robbery. When the people serving up the data to the outside world are internal---employees and contractors---they are considered inside men and women. They can unleash potential data breaches, whether intentional or unintentional.
A few of the that we implemented with our clients include:
- - Monitor Threats, Internal and External
- - Implement Access Control Policies for Physical and Electronic Assets
- - Verify/Authenticate Users
- - Audit systems and departments/employees for adherence to policies
- - Train Staff to Identify Social Engineering Attempts (test and and retrain!)
On their, each of these practices strengthens security. In combination with hardware and network protections, and consistent monitoring, they will help your organization or agency shore up its protections.
Data breaches are real and everyone should be cautious. However, it seems that the attention to this very real problem can also be exploited by some for their own purposes. During the 2020 elections, the count of presidential votes, but not the senate and congressional votes, was questioned, with the loss being attributed to hacking and theft of votes. Even following investigations that proved otherwise, this opinion has prevailed.
The key is to ensure that there is no "inside man" (or woman) who can impact the elections process.
