Infographic: How to Keep Your Event Data Safe
Data theft is a problem for any organisation that has valuable information to protect and the events industry is no exception – let’s face it, the amount of information we collect from visitors and attendees is a potential goldmine for hackers. Keeping this data safe should be one of the event planner’s top priorities but are we doing enough?
The Rising Risk of Cyberattacks
Last month, hackers really upped their game by using internet-connected home devices, such as CCTV cameras and printers, to attack popular websites like Twitter and Spotify. We also saw how 500 million Yahoo user accounts also got compromised – with stolen data including things like usernames, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and encrypted passwords. The truth is that just about every week a major cyber-security event gets talked about in public – and there are many more that don’t. And the fact that none of them seem to involve the events industry is no reason to sit back and not think about it.
Here is another worrying fact: Most companies sit on cybersecurity breaches for weeks before they’re discovered – while they take hackers only minutes to perpetrate. In 93% of cases where data was stolen, systems were compromised in minutes or less, according to Verizon’s 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report. But in over 80% of cases, victims didn’t find the breach for weeks or more. The report states that criminals are getting better and faster, yet the defending side is struggling to keep up.
But the threat is not just limited to cyber attacks. The report found that what was even more pervasive was the effect of physical theft of sensitive paperwork from desks or cars, insiders stealing data for financial gain, and mistakes like sending sensitive information to the wrong person. In fact, one article from Information Week stated that over 40% of data loss is the direct result of internal threats which come about from staff mishandling data – whether intentional or unintentional.
What Has Our Research Found?
Eventsforce conducted its own data security study this year, which exposed a number of important vulnerability areas that event planners should be paying greater attention to – including email communications and managing event system passwords to where and how you should be storing your event data.
Have a look at the infographic below which outlines six preventative tactics that greatly improve the security around your event data:
Eventsforce solutions offer event planners a comprehensive range of event planning tools that are highly secure and can be integrated seamlessly with multiple payment gateways and back end business systems. Find out here how the Liberal Democrats are working with Eventsforce to manage security vetting around its party conferences.
Sources:
Information Week: Insider Threats: 10 Ways to Protect Your Data
CNBC: Most hacks take minutes to do – and weeks to discover
BBC: Smart home devices used as weapons in website attack