Autor: jameswalsh
They use a microprocessor built around a silicon wafer that has millions of microscopic transistors which carry out complex digital calculations at the speed of light. This immense power is channelled by an operating system to run software programmes tailor-made for different works, such as browsing the Internet, writing documents, graphic design, CAD / CAM, accounting and so on.
The main consequence of this comprehensive digitalisation of the world economy has been a move away from a paper-based environment in offices. All information has been painstakingly fed into computers to make the entire setup computerised. Digital data has many benefits over paper files. You can manipulate it anyway you want. You can instantly make any number of copies you wish and send the file over wires to any part of the globe.
This data is immensely valuable for companies because it is almost impossible for them to work without it. For companies in areas such as bio-technology, software, R&D, aerospace and finance (banks, insurance, and stock trading), the information residing on their computer hard drives is worth its weight in gold, maybe even more. It represents a huge amount of investment that is in the shape of trade secrets, intellectual property and customer databases. These obviously are a precious resource for any company.
There are many people in the world who want to lay their hands on this data for illegal gain. Indeed, data theft is a very serious problem today that causes losses of millions of dollars worldwide every year for the victims. A company can lose its data through many ways.
Disgruntled or greedy employees as well as ex-employees constitute a vulnerable group as far as data theft is concerned. Today, there are many data storage devices available that can be easily hidden in one’s clothes. USB drives, no bigger than the size of your thumb, have huge capacities that go up to 8 GB or even more. The employees can easily smuggle a huge amount of data outside the company premises without getting caught.
They are usually lured by competitors of their employers to extract trade secrets. Some employees on their own are hoping to sell the information to interested parties. The last is especially true for staff who may be approached by rival companies or detective agencies for industrial espionage in return for money or other rewards. Competitors are always interested in knowing what other companies in their field are up to in terms of new product launches, acquisitions and strategic planning.
Most computers in companies are connected to the Internet. This poses another huge risk. Hackers are always on the prowl 24 hours a day to detect vulnerable computers that can be broken into and their information stolen for making huge gains. The data illegally copied can then be used to run various scams. Recently, a prominent online recruitment company had its database of thousands of resumes stolen. The hackers are now using these to send emails containing spurious job offers to people in return for giving some “processing fee” in advance.
Online credit card fraud is rampant in the world. Every year, banks and card firms lose millions of dollars because hackers manage to steal confidential information and illegally use it to buy things from the Internet and then disappear. Confidential patient records at hospitals are also at risk, and so are the databases of R&D companies.
Data theft may be a huge problem facing companies currently, but all is not lost. There are many ways you can protect your confidential data from prying eyes. It is always better to use client-server architecture in an office environment where all information resides on a central server while the computers the employees work on are just dumb terminals that do not have any data-recording drive and all their USB ports are disconnected. It is a good idea to build passwords and other security software into various databases so that only authorised people are able to access the data.
The main consequence of this comprehensive digitalisation of the world economy has been a move away from a paper-based environment in offices. All information has been painstakingly fed into computers to make the entire setup computerised. Digital data has many benefits over paper files. You can manipulate it anyway you want. You can instantly make any number of copies you wish and send the file over wires to any part of the globe.
This data is immensely valuable for companies because it is almost impossible for them to work without it. For companies in areas such as bio-technology, software, R&D, aerospace and finance (banks, insurance, and stock trading), the information residing on their computer hard drives is worth its weight in gold, maybe even more. It represents a huge amount of investment that is in the shape of trade secrets, intellectual property and customer databases. These obviously are a precious resource for any company.
There are many people in the world who want to lay their hands on this data for illegal gain. Indeed, data theft is a very serious problem today that causes losses of millions of dollars worldwide every year for the victims. A company can lose its data through many ways.
Disgruntled or greedy employees as well as ex-employees constitute a vulnerable group as far as data theft is concerned. Today, there are many data storage devices available that can be easily hidden in one’s clothes. USB drives, no bigger than the size of your thumb, have huge capacities that go up to 8 GB or even more. The employees can easily smuggle a huge amount of data outside the company premises without getting caught.
They are usually lured by competitors of their employers to extract trade secrets. Some employees on their own are hoping to sell the information to interested parties. The last is especially true for staff who may be approached by rival companies or detective agencies for industrial espionage in return for money or other rewards. Competitors are always interested in knowing what other companies in their field are up to in terms of new product launches, acquisitions and strategic planning.
Most computers in companies are connected to the Internet. This poses another huge risk. Hackers are always on the prowl 24 hours a day to detect vulnerable computers that can be broken into and their information stolen for making huge gains. The data illegally copied can then be used to run various scams. Recently, a prominent online recruitment company had its database of thousands of resumes stolen. The hackers are now using these to send emails containing spurious job offers to people in return for giving some “processing fee” in advance.
Online credit card fraud is rampant in the world. Every year, banks and card firms lose millions of dollars because hackers manage to steal confidential information and illegally use it to buy things from the Internet and then disappear. Confidential patient records at hospitals are also at risk, and so are the databases of R&D companies.
Data theft may be a huge problem facing companies currently, but all is not lost. There are many ways you can protect your confidential data from prying eyes. It is always better to use client-server architecture in an office environment where all information resides on a central server while the computers the employees work on are just dumb terminals that do not have any data-recording drive and all their USB ports are disconnected. It is a good idea to build passwords and other security software into various databases so that only authorised people are able to access the data.
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