Consequences: Fines, bad press and even job loss
White Paper
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May 2020 In addition to large fines, organizations that are breached or found to be in violation of data privacy regulations inevitably suffer bad press and end up trending on social media for the wrong reasons. Making international headlines for data breach is a public relations nightmare that no organization wants to endure. Many breaches are preventable as they are the result of non-compliant data destruction and security processes.
To the right are two recent examples that illustrate this point:
Washington State University
In April '19, Washington State University learned a costly lesson after a hard drive containing the personal information of more than a million people was stolen from a self-storage locker. WSU agreed to pay up to $4.7 million in cash reimbursements, attorneys fees, victim credit monitoring and administrative expenses.
Source: Seattle Times, April 2019
Facebook
In November of 2019, the personal
banking information for thousands of Facebook employees was stolen. The data breach reportedly occurred when someone stole multiple unencrypted physical hard drives from a Facebook payroll staffer's car.
Source: Bloomberg, Nov. 2019
The regulatory tsunami has made it clear: Compliant data destruction processes are not a choice and failure to comply brings enormous consequences.
These laws are in place to protect critical data from the many threats facing it today. Every organization must bring its processes up to date by prioritizing data protection and security over recouping the ever-declining value of retired data bearing devices and IT assets. The potential for fines and damage to brand reputation outweighs the inherent risk involved with remarketing IT assets without secure data destruction.
Data breaches often result in additional negative consequences: Job loss. According to a recent study (Kapersky labs, 2018) 32% of all data breaches result in the termination of C-level executive, president, or CEO.
