Are you a guardian your galaxy
Posted on 12th May 2020 at 14:31
That galaxy of yours holds data and lots of it, none of which belongs to you, you are simply a guardian of it, hence the term ‘Guardian of your galaxy’.
Cyber crime is growing year on year
We’re all about data, the management, and the protection of this for the good of your business. So, when we see the growing figures on cyber crime it makes us want to raise awareness more about this so that we can genuinely help people in the ways that they most need it in their business.
In April 2019 Forbes stated that cyber criminals target poorly protected small businesses. While cyber attacks on well-known large companies such as British Airways and T-Mobile tend to grab all the headlines, it’s smaller businesses that are much more likely to fall victim.
New research suggests as many as 130,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the UK suffered some form of cyber crime in 2018, with almost two-thirds with between 10 and 49 members of staff being targeted according to a survey conducted by internet service provider Beaming and the market research group Opinium. The survey suggests each attack costs the target business an average of £65,000 – wow! As an SME can you afford that?
While cyber crimes against SMEs don’t attract as much attention as the big boys, they do account for the largest share of these crimes. Moreover, the cyber criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and upping their game in places where they go most undetected, targeting small businesses more frequently with crimes significantly growing year on year.
Cyber crime - it’ll never happen to me!
Well every time it does happen this is what the business owner thought and then completely regretted it. For the sake of putting solid foundations in place at very little cost is it work risking absolutely everything?
As a business develops over time it:
Gains customers
Increases staff or 3rd party support from outsourced services or suppliers
Improves processes & infrastructure
Fact - the data within your business will only increase
Data comes into a business in many different ways - customer data, staff data, supplier data, company specific data etc. And it can come in different forms - informational, transactional, or maintained.
Most importantly, the data that comes into your business isn’t always electronic. Once you start to think about all the different types and forms of data written and electronic it starts to feel overwhelming, out of control even. To add to this, the data contained within your organisation, isn’t yours remember, you are simply the guardian of this data and this is how GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) sees it.
So, why is data and GDPR so important to my business?
You are wholly responsible for the data you hold. For any organisation GDPR determines the way in which data should be created, managed, and stored within a business. It also determines how long data should exist, and how it is removed securely without compromise.
Data comes and goes for lots of different reasons. It sometimes goes beyond the boundaries of your business, but as data guardians and business owners it is your responsibility to ensure the transfer and removal of data is done responsibly to maintain the privacy of data subjects and keep them protected.
The removal and replacement of old devices, desktops, laptops, filing cabinets and so on can be done with ease, but where are the guarantees that any data imprints are removed/protected responsibly enough to ensure the reputation of your business and the data subjects you hold information on? You must be able to prove that you have appropriate measures in place to avoid fines or legal proceedings.
The management of data and how it can impact your business
As a business and as an owner or employee, we are all responsible for the data we hold. Our responsibilities don’t end once old equipment, files and data leave us and go to someone else. We must ensure appropriate standards with contractual obligations to protect ourselves, the business and future of the business, in relation to the measures that govern us – GDPR .
For example, if you are replacing devices, software, or systems this quite often requires the support of third parties. You need to make sure those third parties have their own measures of protection that work in sync with your organisation because if anything goes wrong it is down to you, not them.
Managing the data that you are guardian of, and the associated risks, together with good business reputation is key. Data has a value and that value directly correlates with the existence of your business. If you don’t take appropriate measures to manage the data you hold you risk your whole business, to the point where criminal proceedings can be brought about.
Protect your business - next steps…
We can’t emphasise enough the importance of having processes around your data management to keep you compliant, minimise the impact, consequences, and any arising issues, such as a data breach. Solid data management is your plan for protection to have you fully prepared and capable to deal with any eventuality.
To protect your business, we provide:
An appropriate measures audit to check where there are gaps or shortfalls that must be addresses for compliance
A website audit to ensure your data gathering is compliant
Data management training for those responsible for data or with access to it, including third parties
From specialists with over 25 years of experience within data management and protection we help you protect your business and the data within it as part of an ongoing journey.
Call: 02890 022344 - Email: info@jcbcs.com
Tagged as: Compliance is a journey, Cyber Crime, Data Compliance, Data Protection, GDPR, Guardian Of Your Galaxy
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