Facing compliancy and threats with confidence in a changing world

Today, businesses are operating in an environment where it is harder than ever to secure the data of their employees, customers, and other financial and sensitive business information. Cyber-attacks are not only growing in volume, but are also becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect and repel. Adding to this, many organisations are also still grappling with new data protection and compliancy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation.

Datapac, in conjunction with Sophos, carried out a survey of 500 Irish office workers to better understand the challenges facing organisations today and how Irish companies are performing when it comes to data protection.

Implementing better password management practices

Inadequate levels of password security is a common weakness in many organisations’ defences. This is an area which requires buy-in both at an organisational and end-user level and employers must work in tandem with employees to safeguard their business. Some worrying trends when it comes to password management were discovered by the survey.

At an end-user level, these include one-in-five employees admitting to having kept their company password on a post-it note, 16% having shared a work password with a friend or family member, and almost one-third (31%) having shared their password with a co-worker.

In addition, employers were also found to fall short when it comes to implementing best practice for password management, with 16% of office workers saying they have never been asked to change their passwords in the workplace.

Careless behaviour with passwords can easily lead to damaging security breaches and it is important for employers to take the lead on this issue by ensuring adequate processes and controls are in place to protect their business. The appropriateness of an organisation’s password policy and the effectiveness of its implementation are core to risk mitigation within an organisation.  Services such as vulnerability testing and threat intelligence monitoring can help identify potential compromises and aid with continuous compliance auditing.

Coming to terms with GDPR

While it has been almost a year since GDPR came into effect, the survey showed many organisations are still struggling with aspects of the legislation. In fact, 41% of Irish office workers – amounting to more than half-a-million people – are yet to receive any form of GDPR training. Additionally, more than half (54%) are not fully confident that their day-to-day activities in work are GDPR compliant.

As the GDPR deadline loomed last year, many employers viewed this as a box-ticking exercise and rushed to implement controls. By focusing on the implementation of specific solutions, few organisations gave due consideration to what exactly they were protecting and why. As a result, a significant number don’t have the correct tools, training or knowledge in place to securely protect the data they process.

For best practice, businesses are encouraged to take a step back – assess the data they process, understand the threats and risks as they pertain to their organisation, and then look to put the relevant controls in place. It is essential also that a mechanism exists to continuously review the effectiveness of those controls over time. An experienced managed service provider like Datapac can help organisations to adopt this continuous.

Operating with confidence in a complex landscape

In a complex landscape, fraught with cyber risks and demanding compliancy obligations, employees are losing trust in their employers to adequately protect sensitive data. The survey found only 42% of office workers completely trust their employers with their personal data, and just 47% completely trust their employers to securely protect customers’ data.

Datapac can help businesses to regain the trust of their employees through a partnership built on a continuous approach with a proactive managed security service focus. We have designed and enhance our service offering to meet the growing demand for robust and comprehensive protection in a changing world.

From tackling areas of weakness such as password management to continuously reviewing data protection controls, Datapac’s holistic approach enables businesses to operate with confidence and thrive in a complex landscape.

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