Why Information Technology is Essential to the Workplace

“If the plan doesn’t work change the plan but never the goal.”
The amount of information that companies must keep secure is increasing. As a result of industrial advances, companies are constantly gaining more data about their clients and customers. Companies must ensure that data security and company privacy remain a priority to protect against all cost of breaches. 
Privacy can be an issue in the workplace, as well. As technology advances and employers are able to easily and inexpensively install and operate surveillance from security cameras and motion detectors to software that tracks employee internet usage.
The truth is that most data breaches can be avoided; specifically the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) found that 91% (percent) of data breaches in the first half of the year 2015 could have veeb prevented. There are four major ways to data breaches when it occurs. 

1. External Intrusions

The OTA (Online Trust Alliance) studied breaches involving the loss of personally identifiable information, found that 34% (percent) of data breaches happen through peripheral means. This is a traditional idea of hacking, where a executor gains access a system from the outside. External intrusions can happen through accumulating user credentials, hacking personal devices connected to a network and finding its lapses in the security of an app. 

2. Employees

Thirty percent (30%) of data breaches are the result of employee actions, whether accidental or malevolent. For an instance, phishing can lead employees to give access to a hacker. By giving a brief background on the dangers of phishing, companies can prevent these not acceptable situations from happening. The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) reports that insiders or employees can be a threat when they are feeling unhappy, stressed, moving to another company or having financial problems. Companies must realize that insider threats to data protection are a reality to every business. 

3. Lost or Stolen Devices and Documents

It is about seven percent (7%) of breaches occurred most of the day because of lost or stolen devices and another nine percent (9%) occurred because of lost, stolen and misplaced documents. While some of these particular issues happen by accident, others create a planned attack by hackers to acquire data. It is easier and convenient to steal a laptop than hack a database, and as long as employees are bringing their devices outside the office, they bring or run risk for the company. These breaches often affect the small portion of people because of the container features of data protection systems. However, they can still result to big issues and, in some cases, a fine against the company from the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

4. Social Engineering and Fraud

One more popular method used by the hackers to gain access to information is social engineering or fraud, estimated to eight percent (8%) of breaches. Social engineering involves deceiving someone into handing over their credentials and using that login to have an access to a system. This was the cause of perhaps the most infamous data breach in the history, the 2014 Target hack. Two factor identification and proper training can help individuals or employees t stop social engineering attacks, but it is hard to catch this kind of malicious activity in real time. 
Monitoring employees allows business to keep tabs on the dissemination of potentially confidential information, track employee’s productivity and even prevent lawsuits by watching for harassing behavior.