The Latest on Data Protection – Looking Towards a Post-COVID World

Moving Forward

Last week we saw the announcement of the UK’s new Information Commissioner, John Edwards. As the newest Information Commissioner, Edwards stated that he intended to introduce a ‘balance’ between protecting the rights of users as well as promoting innovation and economic growth. Edwards hopes to eliminate the ‘endless’ cookie pop-ups which often enquire for a user’s personal information.

Due to Brexit, leaving the EU meant that the UK had a reform of their data protection laws, and looking to the future, those in control aim to protect our privacy as much as possible.

But in light of all this news and change, just why is data protection and have you/your company be safe digitally so important?

Why Is Data Protection So Important?

It should go without saying, but any information that is stored digitally, whether that be customer details, employee records, data collections, or transactions, should all be properly and effectively protected.

Protecting this data prevents it from being used for fraudulent activities, such as hacking, phishing, and identity theft to name a few. From last week’s blog, we know that 39% of businesses report having cyber security breaches or attacks in the last 12 months, so protecting you or your company’s data is more important than ever.

Statistics

• £16.1K is the average cost of a data breach for small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK.
• One SME in the UK is successfully hacked every 19 seconds.
• Every day, there are 65,000 attempts to hack SMEs, around 4,500 of which are successful.
• Only 31% of UK businesses have completed a cyber risk assessment in the last 12 months.

In Summary

Data protection is a must for every business, with 33% of UK businesses say that they lost customers after a data breach, this could not only damage a company’s reputation and result in a loss of business but could also potentially bring about legal troubles.

Businesses that incorporate preventative measures reduce the cases of security incidents through data breaches and ultimately maintain a strong relationship with their clients and employees alike. This may be due to more businesses utilising basic cyber security measures following the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018.

While some larger companies often have in-house IT teams, many SMEs will turn to an external IT support network that offers expertise across various strategic IT needs.