Data protection breaches and how they happen - but not to you if you follow the tips!

The news is filled with details of Data Protection breaches or, as they are sometimes called, information security breaches. Any breach of information creates the image of someone deliberately hacking your system to access your valuable data. Data protection breaches have increased over the last 10 years and the information being sought is the basic personal information about individuals which can be found in the databases and filing cabinets of many businesses and can easily be used for identity theft purposes.

In reality, breaches can just as commonly occur as a result of human error from inside the organisation. These usually result from a lack of training and understanding. This could be through the loss or theft of laptops, tablets, portable drives or work mobile phones. A common mistake is emailing information to the wrong address or posting it where it can be seen by the general public on the internet. In addition there are poor disposal procedures, especially for paper records where they are just thrown in the general rubbish rather than securely shredded. Old office equipment such a filing cabinets have been disposed off with the files still in them!

So top tips for keeping your data safe

• Ensure you have adequate passwords on your files and change them frequently.
• Limit personal information access to those who need it to do their jobs.
• Set up systems to ensure that database contents cannot be sent via email.
• Ensure that there is adequate training in place to support your staff.
• When disposing of old paper files, ensure they are shredded by a reputable company.
• When disposing of old office equipment, make sure that there is no personal information in it.
• Have a process in place to effectively deal with any breaches or compromises that occur.