Keep it Private - Tips for business leaders to know about data privacy

Guernsey has assisted multiple companies in the wake of cyber breaches over recent years. Through our work with clients across private industry, we’ve identified a few critical pieces of information for business leaders to know about data privacy:

• The most crucial piece of information regarding your data privacy is what data you currently have. Too often, companies are unaware that they possess Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or other privacy-sensitive data. PII is a high-value target for criminals seeking to breach companies and blackmail them for their electronic information.
• Once you know what data you have, store your sensitive data differently than other data. If you know you’ve got PII or other sensitive data (HIPAA data, Federal Contract Information, etc.), protect it at a higher threshold than other data and store it separately if possible.
• Know your legal requirements for data privacy. If you store employee or customer data within your IT enterprise, state and federal laws likely affect you. Know these requirements in advance to keep yourself ahead of legal consequences if your information technology is compromised.

By: Matthew Watson, Guernsey Cybersecurity Consultant, matthew.watson@guernsey.us, 405.416.8184