“Privacy is one of the biggest problems in the new electronic age” – Andy Grove. Data privacy has become a pressing need. Twenty-seven data breaches have occurred in the past four months of this year, resulting in 20.9 million breached records as of March 2021. That figure reflects the number of people at risk of identity theft and fraud.
Most data breaches are due to unsecure databases, unauthorized access to work emails, unfixed vulnerabilities, etc. Data is the modern-day Koh-i-Noor diamond of any organization. It is sought after by cybercriminals and sold for huge amounts of money on the dark web. On average, an internet user’s email address is worth $89, and personal identifiers like passports and medical records are worth thousands of dollars. In recent years, many regions have enacted data protection regulations and laws. Although the rules and penalties differ from country to country, the focal point of all these laws is the protection of personal information, something that is valuable to an individual and the object of exploitation by cybercriminals.
Data Privacy Laws Around the World
Discussions about data privacy started long before the internet was ever created. A right-to-privacy article was written by two lawyers in 1890 in the United States. In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that incorporated the dignities and freedoms of all human beings. This took various forms and was developed and adopted by many nations. A huge game changer in data protection regulations was the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that took effect on May 25th, 2018. The Data Protection Act 2018 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament that compliments the GDPR in the UK. In the United States, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was enacted to enhance the privacy rights and consumer protection of the residents of that state. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) was introduced by the South African Parliament and came into effect on July 1, 2020 and is subject to full enforcement beginning July 1, 2021. Apart from these, there are many other data privacy laws and regulations introduced in different parts of the world.
Data and Endpoint Protection are Interconnected
Data privacy starts with data protection. Pen and paper have become a thing of the past. We are in the electronic age, and everything has gone digital, including our data. Today, an organization’s data is stored and processed on endpoints, storage devices or in the cloud. This brings us to question how secure our endpoints are. Behind the scenes of every cyber-attack, threat actors research for loopholes and security weaknesses in an organization’s network and then plan their attack accordingly. Vulnerabilities, and unpatched systems and applications serve as the gateway to breaches. Cyber attackers can easily obtain critical data through security loopholes. A vulnerability found in the Spotify application was announced publicly in December 2020 and reported that about 300,000 user accounts were exploited, although Spotify claims that the information was only exposed to some of its business partners.
Vulnerabilities are not the only way attackers gain hold of data. Malware injected into storage devices, malicious links sent to employees’ inboxes, and malicious content accessed through browsers can all pave the way to a cyber-attack. All of these problems have a single solution. Adopting endpoint management, security practices, and enforcing data protection processes helps fortify your organization. This is where a Unified Endpoint Management and Security (UEMS) solution comes into play.
UEMS for Large Enterprises and Small Businesses
A UEMS solution helps manage and secure any number of endpoints from a single console. Automating management and security routines helps secure data and protect the organization from cyber-attacks and data breaches, as well as enhances productivity and reduces the workload of system administrators and IT managers.
Here are some ManageEngine Desktop Central UEMS features:
- Patch and Vulnerability Management
- Application Control
- Device Control
- Browser Security
- Mobile Application Management
- Mobile Security Management
- Profile Management
- Mobile Content Management
- Email Management Containerization
Explore all of the features offered by ManageEngine Desktop Central. Start your 30-day, free trial today! Or, schedule a free demo on a day and time that is convenient for you!
Siyuly Kingsly
Tags: Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Data Privacy Laws, data protection, Endpoint Security, Endpoints, UEMS
