Protecting government, corporate and customer information is a top priority for today’s security directors and their chief executives and information technology departments. The risks of data leaks are greater than ever and failure to protect information has serious consequences for companies of all sizes, including lost revenue, damaged corporate brands, customer lawsuits and jeopardized product development.
Last August it was reported that the former IT director of Lightwave Microsystems, an optical components company that is now part of NeoPhotonics Corp., San Jose, tried to sell trade secrets contained on backup tapes to his employer’s competitor. This corroborates findings from the Ponemon Institute, which earlier this year found that almost 70 percent of the 163 U.S. Fortune 1000 companies they surveyed reported security breaches by insiders, 39 percent of these leaks being confidential business data.