Isaac Williams
BIS/221
December 22, 2014
Mary Robbins
Preventing Security Breaches: Collaborative Summary
During Week 2, our team focused our collaborative discussion on different technologies that businesses can use to prevent security breaches and reduce the risk of cyber-attacks they are increasingly experiencing. To aid in our discussion, team member, Jennifer Ashton, posted an article entitled “The Right Technology Fix Can Help Prevent Breaches”, written by author, Tim Horton. Mr. Horton’s article remarked on the rising number of data breaches, how often they affect small businesses, and measures that organizations can employ to avoid future intrusions.
“The Right Technology Fix Can Help Prevent Breaches”
Data breaches and cyber-attack frequency has dramatically increased in recent years, with the advancement of technology and the prevalence of more “cloud” storage and remote access servers. In Mr. Horton’s article, he remarks on the high cost a data breach can have on both finances and a company’s reputation. (Horton, 2014) Citing the Ponemon Institute’s 2013 Cost of a Data Breach Study, Horton goes on to state that “data breaches can cost an average organization more than $5 million per incident.” (Ponemon Institute, 2013)
While the effects of one of these attacks is realized at a much higher price point for larger businesses, smaller companies are actually targeted more often because of their lack of security infrastructures and data monitoring systems. In fact, Horton claims that more than 90% of data breaches affect small businesses. (Horton, 2014) These startling numbers leave many small business owners wondering what they can do to reduce the risk associated with cyber-attacks.
There are countless steps that can be taken to safeguard a company’s data systems against intrusions; however, our collaborative discussion stressed three. Our team reviewed the benefits of updating POS
References: Horton, T. (2014, May 1). The Right Technology Fix Can Help Prevent Breaches. Retrieved December 19, 2014, from ProQuest: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1548709638?accountid=458 Ponemon Institute. (2013, May 28). 2013 Cost of Data Breach: Global Analysis. Retrieved December 19, 2014, from Ponemon Institute: http://www.ponemon.org/local/upload/file/2013%20Report%20GLOBAL%20CODB%20FINAL%205-2.pdf