Data theft is any business owner’s worst nightmare, but when it can be twice as devastating it originates from inside your company.
The idea that someone you trust with your company’s sensitive data is why you are facing a crisis is a betrayal some managers and owners find hard to overcome. Here is a look at how insider data theft can happen and what it does to a business’s reputation:
Risks of insider data breaches
The risk of insider data breaches increased exponentially once employers had to allow people to work from home. Hackers have found that data transfer over email is a vulnerable point they can exploit to get into a company’s network. Most major hacks include monitoring emails for sensitive information as a means of access.
GoAnywhere cloud file transfers are secure and reliable, allowing your employees to send data safely between systems, locations, and users. Utilizing cloud security measures, your data is safer there than it would be stored on your premises.
Consequences of an insider data breach
When the news of an insider data breach breaks, the reputational damage to your business could be catastrophic. The idea that someone you trusted is responsible for data finding its way into criminals’ clutches is challenging to fathom. When people find out, they will question your abilities as a good judge of character.
This is unfair as many insiders who commit data theft are very convincing liars. However, to avoid facing this situation, employers need to be alert when employees depart a company, especially if they do so on bad terms.
A disgruntled former employee with access to your data is extremely dangerous. They will take pleasure in stealing it and then broadcasting their deeds to anyone who will listen. In addition to having your data stolen, the things alleged by that disgruntled employee need to be refuted.
Even employees who leave the company to take up work elsewhere or retire might be tempted to take valuable data with them as a ‘parting gift’ from the company. Despite signing numerous non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), these soon-to-be ex-employees will not regard their actions as wrongful.
Looking for potential data thieves
While incidences of industrial espionage might be relatively rare, your company could become a target. Employees are bribed into spying or planted in organizations to steal their data. This is hard to detect before the fact.
However, with the right security systems and control measures, you can monitor employees’ activities involving the company’s data and identify suspicious behavior.
Your concerns about people who could access your data should not be limited to employees alone. Third parties, vendors, and subcontractors might have legitimate access to a company’s data and steal it.
The bad publicity from this kind of breach will gain your company a reputation of being careless and negligent about who accesses its data. Clients might choose to withdraw their custom from your organization, feeling that their details are unsafe under your control.
Dealing with the reputational damage from an insider data breach
Many companies that faced this challenge have made the mistake of keeping a data breach under wraps. However, such things rarely remain secret, and trying to cover it up only adds to the reputational damage.
The company appears deceitful when it does not admit that there was an insider breach. It is preferable to be transparent about an insider data breach, how it occurred, what is being done to address it, and interventions being put in place to prevent it from happening again.
Rehabilitating the reputational damage caused by a data breach takes time and patience. However, honesty and transparency are an essential component of overcoming it.