1 in 3 Data Breaches From Mobile Devices

Posted by Benny on Feb 4th, 2010 | no comments home title

According to a recent article in Mobile Enterprise, more than one third of the 45 data breach cases studied by the Ponemon Institute in 2009 had a mobile device or laptop that was either lost or stolen. According to the study, “Data breaches concerning lost, missing or stolen mobile devices are more expensive than other incidents,the Ponemon Institute’s Fifth Annual U.S. Cost Of A Data Breach Study, which is conducted each year in partnership with PGP Corp., an email and data encryption software provider.”

The article goes on to state that “the per-victim cost for a data breach involving a lost or stolen laptop was $225 in 2009, 10% higher than the average total cost of a data breach and 5% higher than the cost of a breach caused by a malicious attack.

Malicious and criminal enterprise data breaches also are on the rise, according to the study.

Cause Of A Data Breach, 2009

Cause	% Respondents
Third-party flub	42%
Negligence	40%
Lost or stolen laptop/mobile device	36%
Malicious or criminal attack	24%

Source: Ponemon Institute, “Fifth Annual U.S. Cost Of A Data Breach Study,” 2009.”

It is becoming fairly obvious that the serious nature of data security even for smaller enterprise businesses is in dire need of being addressed and if you receive any type of grants or government funding, the nature of your business becomes ever-more important for you to make sure your information is “buttoned down”

When you analyze you business’ communications services, ask yourself a couple of questions to see how well you’re doing:

1. Do we have a policy regarding what communications is allowed to be accessed by what devices?

2. What preventative measures have we implemented in the case of lost or stolen devices?

3. What mobile device policy have been created and does it address any advancements within the last 6 months?

4. Do third party individuals or partner organizations have access to our systems today?

5. Do your employees have a clear understanding of the responsibility of their access to certain systems and devices?

A more through investigation by a security specialist may yield even more important considerations for your company. Take the bull by the horns and while you can and don’t end up on the front page of the business section for the wrong reasons!

1 in 3 Data Breaches From Mobile Devices

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