What is a Data Breach?
A data breach is a violation of security which is definitely not uncommon. No matter the size of your company, hackers can find a way to gain access to either your organisation’s or your personal information which can then be copied, viewed, stolen, or transmitted. Being a victim of a data breach can be costly, and you can protect your company with the information security management standard, ISO 27001.
ISO 27001 is used by thousands of organisations worldwide to ensure the safe management and storage of information. This includes securing information relating to the company’s assets such as financial information as well as intellectual property, employee details, or information entrusted by third parties, including customers.
Yahoo! Data Breach
Currently, the cyber-attack which Yahoo faced is one of the biggest ones as it holds the record for the most people affected. 3 billion user accounts were exposed between 2013-2016. The information which was exposed included:
- Names
- Email addresses
- Security questions
- Phone numbers
- Birth dates
- Calendars
- Passwords
Yahoo reacted slowly to the situation which resulted in them being faced with a $35 million fine and 41 class-action lawsuits.
Facebook Data Breach
In April 2021, Facebook was hit by one of its largest data leaks with over 530 million users exposed. Information such as names, phone numbers, passwords, and account names was exposed. However, Facebook said that no information had been misused.
LinkedIn Data Breach
If you are a professional, there’s a high chance you use this social media platform yourself – LinkedIn. In April 2021, over 700 million user records were leaked after performing a data scrape on the LinkedIn website. Most of the information was publicly available, and performing a data scrape by exploiting LinkedIn’s API violated the terms of service. Things such as phone numbers, full names, email addresses, details to linked social media accounts, geolocations, and genders were accessed. The emails which were accessed were vulnerable to being targets of phishing or ransomware attacks.
Preventing Data Breaches with ISO 27001
Data breaches can sometimes be inevitable, however, there are measures such as obtaining ISO 27001 certification which can reduce the risk of one occurring. The weakest link often isn’t technical, it’s human and human behaviour can at times be unpredictable! Therefore, building your cybersecurity strategy on standards such as the globally recognised ISO 27001 is strongly advised. This is because the standard provides multifaceted guidance on establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an information security management system (ISMS).
The ISO 27001 information security management standard was created jointly by the International Organisation for Standardisation and the International Electrotechnical Commission to assist organisations with assessing their information security risks, threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts while also creating and implementing an all-encompassing risk strategy that is frequently revisited.
Overall, the standard is great at preventing data breaches as it artfully fuses business processes and technology to achieve the best efficiency and effectiveness in a corporate information security management system with a synergised effect.
Support with ISO 27001
Are you in need of support when it comes to information security management?
Many data breaches can be avoided. If you want to protect your company’s information assets, implement ISO 27001 into your company and receive the benefits.
Here at Candy Management Consultants, we have expert ISO 27001 consultants who can assist your organisation with the implementation of a bespoke information security management system, enabling you to obtain your certification. With our 100% success rate to date with all clients, you are guaranteed to achieve certification when you follow our guidance.
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