Dati sulle Startup censite nel Registro delle Imprese
European countries have been involved in a huge debate about borders, frontiers and immigration control. Transnational threats such as terrorism are well know – and well feared. Cyber -security, on the other hand, is publicly debated only as a consequence of disruptive attacks, like the one caused by the ransomware Wannacry over the past few weeks. Wannacry stole the data from 200 systems, overall targeting 150 countries.
Data are a highly strategic asset. And yet data protection, even when it comes to national security, doesn’t appear to be a political priority.
Cost and benefits: let’s crunch the data.
For corporations, the cost of big data breaches go beyond material losses: they impact on reputation costs and brand trust. According to an Accenture’s estimate “the average time to contain a cyber attack is 31 days, with an average cost of $639,462 during that period”.
After the recent attacks, EY published a series of guidelines, illustrating basic rules to protect a system from ransomwares like Wannacry. They are not hard or too costly to compel to – compared to the high costs an organisation has to undertake after a data breach.
The core advice is to always keep the systems up to date, do frequent back-ups, maintain a good level of awareness and “education” among employees on the cyber threats. Proactive testing is another key element: making sure your organisation has solid guidelines to follow in case of incident. A regular back up, for instance, prevents the success of viruses like Wannacry, which are coded to decrypt the stolen data only after a ransom payment.
The most recent incident, “help[ed] focus the minds of chief technology officers across corporations to make sure security protocols are up to date” according to the head of technology research at Northern Trust (source Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cybersecurity-stocks-idUSKCN18B0OI).
As a consequence, the stock value of cyber security companies and start -ups rose significantly.
A serious trans-national threat
A structured and proactive investment plan for data protection is a number one priority for businesses, not only a concern in times of trouble.
The reasoning can be applied both to the private and the public sector. Dedicated strategies to protect sensitive data of public administration (universities, healthcare systems) are to be put in place not only after disastrous incidents. They should be part of the everyday routine. It’s true that viruses and ransomwares are increasingly complex and dangerous: but their damages can be scaled back simply following certain protocols.
And, most of all, understanding the data breach threat as one of the most serious transnational dangers of our times.
References
Student of IPM @Unibo. Interested in political science, economics, media, technology & innovation. Curious,
proactive and always up for new experiences.
proactive and always up for new experiences.
