Human Error: The Real Reason Behind 88% of UK Data Breaches

The cyber security news media often bring us news of emerging malware threats but it's often the case that security failings are not due to external attacks, but plain human error. That was the finding of a recent study by Kroll. In the study, 88% of UK data breaches were due to human error and not the work of hackers. Cyber attacks do happen, but over the last 2 years, they only represented 12% of all IT security issues.

According to the study, 37% of data breaches were due to sending the information to the wrong recipient. Mis-sending can easily occur through the use of email and fax machines. Another reason may be insecure storage of paper-based and digital information; a printed documented might easily be misplaced by a human, then uploaded in unencrypted digital form into cloud storage.

Effective cybersecurity is not just about technology," notes Kroll MD, Andrew Beckett. "Often, companies buy the latest software to protect themselves from hackers but fail to instigate the data management processes and education of employees required to mitigate the risks. The majority of data breaches and even many cyber attacks could be prevented by human vigilance or the implementation of relatively simple security procedures.”

The issue of secure storage and retrieval of customer data security is the primary reason why the European Union introduced GDPR in May 2018. All businesses that operate in the EU-member states or interface with EU citizens are expected to comply with the regional law. One such requirement is the strict reporting of a security breach to the EU, 72 hours after its discovery.

For businesses that can’t justify the expense of employing their own, full time IT security manager, remote technology offers an important, cost-effective alternative. Managed security is a service that allows you to outsource the management of all your IT security measures, giving you continuous and effective protection at a fraction of the cost of a full-time salary.

At AMP, we use the latest, purpose-developed monitoring software to deliver round-the-clock security for our clients’ networks. This gives you a robust defence against everything from common threats to targeted attacks. Crucially, it also enables us to respond proactively to stop malicious activity as it’s happening.

For more details about remote monitoring and data security, please call us on 0800 368 7730.