Are you being outspent by cyber criminals?

“Identity theft is not a joke, Jim!  Millions of families suffer every year!”

Dwight Schrute may have been the butt of a comedic scene when shouting that, but he wasn’t wrong about the problem’s severity.  This remains as true today as it did when The Office was on TV.

In fact, as reported by CPO Magazine, it is currently one of several issues of most concern to businesses and corporate data governance.  This comes as part of research conducted by Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which examines what business travelers worry about when they are abroad.  Public WiFi security dominated the results, with 65% of 2,000 respondents expressing concern about the safety of their company’s data at a hotspot.

We’ve talked in the past about the risks involved in public networks, and now more than ever businesses need to take an active role in training their employees about responsible data protection.  Especially since the data shows, according to Carbon Black, that for all the massive amounts business spends on cybersecurity ($96 billion per year), cyber criminals manage to top that.  All told, over $1 trillion is spent on attacks and compromising security weaknesses each year, resulting in Carbon Black discovering that 92% of UK businesses had been breached in the past year, many multiple times.

It’s not exactly a mystery where cyber criminals are getting these treasuries.  Even those that aren’t supported by governments can access a community that has spent years accumulating astronomical amounts of people’s valuable data.

When business spending is being outpaced by the very agents it’s trying to overcome, it makes for an even more challenging landscape.  No wonder traveling employees are cautious about how they use the Internet on the go.  No one wants to be the catalyst for the next big data breach because they screwed up at Starbucks.

Ideally, an employee would just avoid using public WiFi; these days, however, that might not be the most feasible option.  They should therefore refrain from sharing any personally identifiable information (PII) over these networks, lest someone be watching and waiting to steal it.  CPO Magazine suggests companies providing employees with an unlimited data plan, to circumvent business travelers opting for reduced rates on free public networks.  If possible, that would surely be a great mitigator, but even then, everyone needs to be educated to understand the risks of public WiFi to sensitive data.  You need every advantage when your adversaries spend more than you to steal it.