Data breach risk 'worst in recent memory': BCS video debate

[Jon Turner <jjturner () gmail com>]

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/02/23/234954/data-breach-risk-worst-in-recent-memory-bcs-video.htm

This is the worst time in recent memory for potential security breaches,
according to a British Computer Society video
debate<http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.24211>
.

IT security should remain one of the highest priorities during the economic
downturn, especially for companies that may have to make redundancies over
the coming months, the BCS debate concluded.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has urged firms to keep on top of
operational controls and risk management because of the danger that
criminals may target increasingly desperate employees.

As they are under financial and job pressures as the downturn deepens, they
may be tempted to commit data theft, among other crimes.

The video debate panel, which comprised Rik Ferguson of security firm Trend
Micro, Hamid Jahankhani of the University of East London, and Louise Bennett
of the BCS Security Forum, agreed that large organisations need a better
understanding of which specific person has access to what information.
 
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Ferguson said, "One of the things that government and corporations rightly
fear when they lay people off is that they take things with them. They can't
afford to take their eye off the ball now as it's probably their most
insecure time in recent memory."

Bennett said, "If you are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy if you have a
data loss that gets publicised, it will push you over the edge. Overlooking
data security is a completely unaffordable thing to do."

Jahankhani also said a public information campaign that told people about
the dangers of leaving personal information on social networking sites could
help inform people about the value of their data.

The BCS Information Security Specialist Group
<http://www.bcs-issg.org.uk/>is holding its annual conference on the
theme of data leakage and data loss
from 26-27 March.

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