Entries Tagged 'Business Espionage'

Big business is definitely aware and guarded against hacking and espionage.

So the hackers are going after the low-hanging fruit — the small business.

Gone are the days when big business was the prime target of amateur hackers and professional cybercriminals. The security advances made by larger firms have deterred many of them, says Howard Schmidt, president and CEO of R&H Security Consulting and former White House cybersecurity adviser. Seeking an easier target, troublemakers are now attacking small businesses, which are often inadequately protected against cybercrime, Schmidt explains. That’s because small firms have less time, resources, and experience to devote to the issue.

While the small business owner understands that security is important, more often than not the protections in place are completely inadequate due to a lack of knowledge and basic precautions.

Almost one-fifth of the small businesses surveyed didn’t use virus scanning for e-mail, and more than 60% didn’t protect their wireless networks with even the simplest encryption.

This is a huge problem, and a huge opportunity for companies that can painlessly take care of the security needs of the huge small business market.

The cost to encrypt data on the average laptop is about $40, and is likely even less for you.

The value of the data on your laptop to a thief could be much more than you might imagine.

From the Privacy and Law Blog:

81% of U.S. businesses surveyed this year reported that, in the previous 12 months, at least one of their laptops or other portable electronic devices had been lost or stolen. U.S. Survey: Confidential Data at Risk, 5 Privacy & Security Law Report 1162 (2006). When a laptop is lost or stolen, unencrypted data on the computer can easily be accessed. Even if a user name and password are needed to sign on to the laptop, the hard drive can be removed in a few seconds and all data on the hard drive can be copied to another computer or to a storage device in minutes.

Despite the high risk sensitive data may be obtained from lost or stolen laptops, many businesses continue to allow employees to store such information on laptops and to take the laptops home, on business trips, and on vacations. Business managers should consider whether their current laptop security practices are sufficient. If a business’ trade secrets, attorney-client privileged information, customer lists, or financial information are obtained from a lost or stolen laptop, affected shareholders, employees, or business partners may argue that the business failed to take adequate steps to safeguard the data.

Failing to encrypt data on a mobile device “borders on negligence” according to Avivah Litan of the Gartner Group.

I agree.

Information is the gold of the new millennium. If you feel your business intelligence is not worth guarding, do you really have a valuable business?

Bug detectors disguised as fountain pens and hidden cameras are no longer only the purview of James Bond. These days, business information security has proved to be a boon for the manufacturers and retailers of counter-surveillance technology.

Julia Adams, director of surveillance retailer Spymaster says:

“The majority of the customers are buying counter-surveillance equipment. The majority are concerned with what is being leaked. They want to make sure they aren’t being bugged and that the competition isn’t listening.”

This is only going to become a bigger problem for businesses. Disgruntled and defecting employees are a substantial part of the challenge, but so are competing businesses, strategic partners, and even foreign intelligence services looking to give the Motherland an economic boost.

As surveillance technology becomes even cheaper, more effective and better disguised, counter-surveillance technology will simply become a part of doing business. Commercial information is easily translated into money, and legal protections are often insufficient when the security breach is not detected.

How secure is your business intelligence?