Massive security breaches occur every day—not even the most prominent politicians and businessmen are immune. On July 15, Twitter discovered fake tweets coming from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk’s accounts. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West were also subject to the hack.
With cybersecurity becoming an ever-increasing issue in the advent of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to recognize the most common data breaches you can face, and how to properly protect yourself from them.
Common Types of Data Breaches in Florida and Beyond
Cybersecurity in Florida is governed by Florida’s Information Protection Act of 2014 (FIPA) and §501.171, Fla. Stat., which is found in the Consumer Protection Chapter of the Florida Statutes. Under §501.171, “each covered entity, governmental entity, or third-party agent shall take reasonable measures to protect and secure data in electronic form containing personal information.” The statute also delineates protocols regarding notice, annual reports, consumer records, and enforcement.
In California, state officials recently sent out alerts regarding cybersecurity and privacy rights under their own data privacy statute—the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The Office of the California Attorney General’s 2016 California Data Breach Report outlines the common types of data breaches between 2012 to 2015: malware and hacking, physical breaches, and breaches caused by errors. The types of data that were breached included sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and medical information. The industries most subject to breaches were the retail sector, the financial sector, the healthcare industry, and small businesses. The Breach Report recommended the following: Maintaining information security, utilizing multi-factor authentication, utilizing strong encryption on portable and desktop devices, placing fraud alerts on credit files if you are a victim of breach, and conforming states’ breach laws in order to facilitate consumer compliance and cooperation.
Such breaches released by the California Report are still prevalent four years later throughout the whole country. However, targeted ransomware, phishing attacks, and mobile malware attacks are now on the rise. While the escalation of cyber insurance, IoT devices, and AI initially protect information, they also give rise to cyber-attacks.
Cybersecurity Defensive Measures for Miami Business Lawyers
The California Attorney General’s Office also supported a set of 20 cybersecurity defensive measures from the Center for Internet Security (CIS) that all organizations that keep personal information should have. These measures are equally relevant nationwide. The defenses or “controls” are the following:
- Inventory and Control of Hardware Assets
- Inventory and Control of Software Assets
- Continuous Vulnerability Management
- Controlled Use of Administrative Privileges
- Secure Configuration for Hardware and Software on Mobile Devices, Laptops, Workstations and Servers
- Maintenance, Monitoring and Analysis of Audit Logs
- Email and Web Browser Protections
- Malware Defenses
- Limitation and Control of Network Ports, Protocols and Services
- Data Recovery Capabilities
- Secure Configuration for Network Devices, such as Firewalls, Routers and Switches
- Boundary Defense
- Data Protection
- Controlled Access Based on the Need to Know
- Wireless Access Control
- Account Monitoring and Control
- Implement a Security Awareness and Training Program
- Application Software Security
- Incident Response and Management
- Penetration Tests and Red Team Exercises
In 2020, these measures should still be taken to protect yourself and your businesses, along with ransomware analysis, preservation of evidence, ransomware expert negotiation services, cryptocurrency facilitation services, forensic analysis and reporting, eradication, and Cyber Security Awareness Training.
