Recent data breaches raise more questions about data security, National Security

In the wake of JPMorgan’s 76 million record data breach, questions about our nation’s security and how corporation respond to such breaches are being questioned. This type of questioning is fairly common after a breach of this magnitude. But, when you factor in unrest in the Middle East and in Ukraine along with the large jump in JPMorgan’s originally reported number versus the actual number of records affected, things are different this time around.

Green Initiatives in the Datacenter

Datacenters use copious amounts of energy, no surprise there, but just how much do they use? If the cloud storage industry was a country, they would be the fifth largest consumer of energy in the world. Think about that for a second. There are countries with hundreds of millions, even billions of people, and cloud storage uses about as much energy as those countries. Well this consumption rate is now getting some much needed attention, but is it enough?

You only get one brand reputation – protect it from a data breach

What do data breaches have to do with a company’s brand reputation? Well, to really understand the impact that a hole in your information security system can have on how the industry and its consumers look at your company, let’s start with the value of a brand reputation.

Brand reputation is one of the most precious assets a company can protect. While consumers certainly demonstrate the intention to reward companies based on the merits of their current products and services, one cannot ignore the overlapping grey area of consumer motivation that is defined by brand recognition and brand loyalty.

TechR2 Stands Out at Celebration of Industry’s Best

July 31, 2014 – COLUMBUS, OH – Business of Security events are held several times a year throughout Central Ohio. Business of Security was founded in 2005 and has run over 120 events in the US. The executive panel format dubbed, “Roll the Dice” was launched in Columbus in 2013 and drew 135 people for both the inaugural event and the one held in July of 2014. Business of Security also conducts “Art of the Craft” networking events at the Actual Brewing Company that draw 85-100 people.

21% Increase in Data Breaches in the First Half of 2014

21% Increase in Data Breaches in the First Half of 2014

395 data breaches have occurred that have been reported in the U.S. so far this year [By July 2014], a 21 percent increase over the same period last year.
In some of the cases, laptops or thumb drives containing information were stolen. And in many of the cases, the breaches were attributed to poor data security practices or simple errors that could have been avoided.

Company vs. Service Provider: Data Breach Responsibility

have come across several articles over the past month or so that have talked about risk mitigation. This isn’t uncommon, but there was a recurring theme that I had to address. There has been confusion recently as to who holds more responsibility, the service provider or the company who created the data?

Avoiding a Data Breach: Best Practices for Data Destruction

In a perfect world all of the data is properly destroyed and the assets are either retired or resold. Companies are now transitioning to cloud based services and newer technology as a way to lower their costs in the long run, and the work required to manage these newer systems and software is much less. The main risk with this transition, that cannot be ignored, is the handling and disposal of sensitive data and the media it is stored on.

IT Asset Disposal and Recycling

“IT Hardware Recycling Remains an Orphaned Function in Most Enterprises”- International Data Corporation (press release 9/13/12)

Who is responsible? IT, Security, Procurement, Legal, Business Unit Manager, Human Resources, Other?

VA investigating security breach of veterans’ medical data

The Veterans Affairs Department’s inspector general has launched a criminal investigation into a physician assistant’s alleged downloading of veterans’ clinical data at its Atlanta medical center, sources have told Nextgov.

TechR2 Certified as a Woman Business Enterprise

Over 700 public and private sector individuals participated in establishing the Standards and Procedures of this rigid certification review. The goal of the certification program is to streamline the certification process and increase the ability of women business owners to compete for contracts at a national level.