According to the latest insights released by leading risk and compliance company,
Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN), 96 percent of senior executives are concerned about data fraud, with 95 percent worried that data breach incidents will increase over the next two years.
Data breaches are a growing concern for businesses, and this includes the storage of dark data. Dark data is defined as data that a business has collected but no longer needs – this can include customer information and old employee details.
As much of this data is stored over time, businesses can often forget about it, often leaving such information susceptible to breaches. Dark data is often not subject to the same protections compared to active information, meaning that cyber criminals can easily gain access to such systems and steal it for themselves.
Not only do such attacks endanger businesses, but also current and previous employees, and past clients, whose information may still be stored.
A key takeaway for IT departments is that there should be more internal regulation on how data is attained, managed, and stored, and what happens when such data is no longer required – all of which should abide by GDPR laws where appropriate.
If you would like further guidance on storing data safely, please contact [email protected] or sign up to our free core membership to keep up to date with the latest cyber security matters and keep your business safe online.
The NEBRC is a non-profit organisation that aims to educate, inform, and support businesses in the UK by staying protected against cyber threats.