Data Loss is the Top Threat for IP Professionals

One in four companies has suffered data loss in the past two years

May 21, 2012

One out of every four companies has been a victim of data loss in the past two years according to the Data Loss Straw Poll from CDW. These losses can include breaches in company email, networks or sensitive information, and no one company is immune.

The poll surveyed 654 IT professionals from various sectors, including business, financial services, healthcare and higher education.

Thirty-two percent of them said that data loss is their number one risk in 2012.

Half of the IT professionals surveyed stated that personally identifiable information, such as customer, student, employee or patient records, is the most likely target of cyber attack on their organizations. This was followed with credit card information at 19 percent and competitive or proprietary information at 13 percent.

Echoing this fear is a long line of recent cyber attacks and mistakes, including a hacking incident that compromised 900,000 patients' personal information in Utah last March, and the accidental exposure of more than 350,000 Social Security numbers at the University of North Carolina in early May.

And organizations that have their data loss programs under control are using more than one method of securing information. Thirty five percent of the professionals surveyed graded their data security at an “A,” and that 35 percent layer nearly all available data loss prevention measures.

The 65 percent left over rated their data security anywhere from a “B” to an “F,” and they pick and choose which loss prevention strategies to implement, such as encrypted storage, Web security filters, encrypted email gateways and end point security.

Ransomware and the propulsion of the extortion economy has rapidly eclipsed into a national priority. Recently, we observed the catastrophic impact of a widescale ransomware attack impacting gas pipelines and raising national gas prices overnight.