Why Data Security & Destruction is still a big deal in 2019!

If a company wishes to abide by government regulations and avoid a data breach, secure handling and destruction of data should be of utmost importance. Companies need to dispose of unused electrical equipment and data in the correct way or else it will be vulnerable to a cyberattack. Whether your data is in storage or at the end of its lifecycle, in order to be compliant every company, big or small needs to handle and destroy data securely. When it comes to data, there is no such thing as being too careful!

Securely destroying data is the law

Companies can be held liable in the event of a data breach. If you want to remain within Data Protection laws, IT and data destruction is something your company should be taking very seriously. Your company is responsible for the data it has and what happens to it. Therefore, if your data falls into the wrong hands, it is your company who will have to answer for any data breaches or damages that have incurred. Using a data destruction company like DSA Connect; who understand the UK laws and regulations on data protection, is the safest and easiest way to destroy data and steer clear of a costly law suit.

A Data Breach is expensive

Whether your company is big or small, a data breach could be potentially devastating for both your reputation and finances. Data breaches are time consuming and expensive to fix, a study by IBM found that in 2018 the average cost of a data breach was $3.86 million (source). Whilst it may initially appear that it is cheaper to just eliminate data yourselves, it is likely the data has not been completely destroyed and is therefore vulnerable to a costly data breach. The bigger the data breach, the higher the cost. Therefore, it is important to do everything you can to try and prevent a data breach. This means that the time and money spent on a data destruction policy, could help protect you in the long run – trust us, it’s definitely worth doing. IBM found that in 2018 the average cost of a global average cost of a data breach is up 6.4 percent over the previous year to $3.86 million. with cascading opportunity and reputational damage that can far exceed this number.”

Statistically, it’s likely to happen:

The Information Commissioner (ICO) found that data breaches are up by 75% in the last two years. IBM found that in 2018 the average cost of a global average cost of a data breach is up 6.4 percent over the previous year to $3.86 million. Data breaches – when not if  – every week we read about a new company who has had a large data breach – eg: Urban Massage, British Airways, and Facebook. These data breaches may affect millions of people, for example, Yahoo’s 2016 data disaster that impacted three-billion users. However, it is not only large companies that are targeted. Many data breachers know of the value that every day businesses hold, thus, it is also smaller companies who are at risk.

It is clearly demonstrated how normative cybersecurity incidents can occur, and have been occurring for years and years. Just as software is becoming smarter in order to protect you from a data breach, whilst the data exists, there is always a risk. It should be of utmost importance to take significant steps to reduce the risk of an incident due to something that is often out of your control.

Delete your data, delete your risk!