Last 9 Weeks

            Over the past nine weeks my previous blog posts have been over varying topics, but primarily they were about how companies need to better educate their employees about network security and how the company needs to improve network security.  Several of the blogs discussed how employers needed to educate their employees, as well as themselves, on the risks of bringing your own device to work and educating employees on how to create secure passwords and not writing them down for others to find.  Edward Snowden stealing information from the NSA proves that no matter how secure companies believe they are there is always room for improvement.  Another blog discussed the need for more collaboration between companies to share information about the types of security threats that each company faced and what they have done to prevent future threats like these.

            I chose the above-mentioned topics because I believe these are areas that most businesses and employees need education and training on.  I used a variety of sources through the past nine weeks.  I believe that this type of blog can be useful to an information security professional.  The best way to stay up to date on current trends and information is to read information in magazines, on web sites and subscribe to newsletters

How important is network security?

     The majority of companies are aware that they need to keep their networks secure.  However, there are still some out there that believe it is just an added expense. This is because they are not aware of how important network security is.  An easy way to understand how secure your company's network security should be is to consider how important is your company's information.  What would happen if your customers' information (addresses, credit card numbers, etc.) were stolen?  Would they stop being your customer?  Would they sue you?  How much would it cost to repair the security breach?  It is necessary to consider possible lost revenue from having to stop business while the security breach is fixed and also what would the actual cost be to increase network security.   Other expenses would include regulatory fines as well as possible law suits. 

     When it becomes apparent how expensive network security is when it was not adequate, companies begin to realize just how important it truly is.  To get a better idea of just how expensive it is, the average cost of a data breach is $5.5 million.  Can your business afford this for every data breach?  Not to mention an average of $3 million in lost revenue due to the breach and $1.5 million for post data breach expenses.  Is it still an unnecessary business expense?  No, and remember just because it has not effected your company does not mean that it never will.

For more information:
http://www.sys-con.com/node/2749391?goback=.gde_38412_member_262017002