There’s probably a decent correlation between the populations of people who read movie credits and those who read the demographics section in a 70 page report.
You might linger to be reminded of that actress’s name who was also in that movie you liked years back or see the bloopers at the end of a Jackie Chan film, but otherwise it’s a basic stampede or scramble for the door before the parking lot gets slammed…
I, however, do believe that demographics are rather important!
How else do you really know if the findings of all of the various research studies and articles that you read are generally representative, if they’re relevant to your organization, etc.,etc?
Such questions are important to proper interpretation and application of a report such as the attached Verizon 2015 Data Breach Investigation Report (DBIR) .
All of that said; one thing is painfully clear: Data Theft and Insider Risks are an ever present and very serious problem!
Last year’s DBIR covered incidents affecting organizations in 95 countries; the updated tally for the 2015 report is 61.
So; I guess this obviously means that 34 countries got secured over the last year; great job everyone, right???
In truth, we don’t really know what’s going on there, do we?
In terms of volume, two-thirds of incidents occurred in the U.S.A. That’s not a big surprise, is it?
The industries most affected look remarkably similar to prior years, and the top three are exactly the same: Public, Information, and Financial Services.
My overall take from these results remains consistent as well: No industry is immune to security failures and insider theft .
Don’t let a “that won’t happen to me because I’m too X” attitude catch you napping.
I for one, was almost at a complete loss for words over the Insider Threat Warnings Section and, if you were hoping this would point out a spike in stolen pens and pencils, I’m afraid this report will let you down!!!
The Insider Misuse pattern outlined in the DBIR shines a light on those in whom an organization has already placed significant trust—they are inside the perimeter defenses and given access to sensitive and valuable data, with the expectation that they will use it only for the intended purpose.
Sadly, that’s not always the way things work folks!
As is the case with this DBIR report, people are people; so, why should it be that we expect what we don’t inspect???
Also, predictably, folks still steal things from the companies they work for!!!
Ok so now, there you are, sipping Mai Tais on the beach, enjoying a well-deserved vacation after installing all those shiny, new, advanced threat-mitigation devices at your corporate perimeter, confident in your ability to detect those pesky and insidious external attackers bent on stealing your corporate secrets….
You fire up your shiny new iPhone 6 Plus only to be met with an e-mail subject line from Digital Endpoint™ that sends shivers down your back: “What are you doing to prevent insider threats”?
“Looks like it’s time to get off the easy chair and get back to work, sorry”
Other than this, I will refrain from further commentary on these demographics, Mai Tais, etc., and simply encourage you to look this report over carefully and decide how relevant its warnings are to your organization and whether they change the way you consider addressing Data Loss Prevention and Insider Threats in your organization!
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