Data Loss: No Day At The Park

Remember when you were a kid playing with your favorite toy on the playground, then dropping it to hit the monkey bars or slide? You came back later only to find some big doofus took your prized possession and wouldn't give it back. It was a tough lesson to learn, but a valuable one: If you don't want something stolen, keep a watchful eye on it.

That lesson seems to be lost on today's IT professionals responsible for transactions involving critical data. A recent survey conducted by security services firm Orthus revealed that IT departments are responsible for at least 30% of the data breaches that take place. Orthus' study involved monitoring user activity over the last year via software installed on endpoints, servers, and terminal servers. As evidence of the leaks, the firm was able to record a date and time stamp when information was removed from the corporate infrastructure.

We've been saying this for some time now -- data loss isn't always at the hands of a cybercrook, and relying on software alone isn't the answer. Critical info can disappear off the servers for any number of reasons, including employees working from home or traveling to off-site meetings and conferences. But without a solid data protection strategy, you're basically begging for some mean ol' kid to take your bag of marbles while you're not looking. Only now, these stolen "marbles" will cost your company millions of dollars -- and probably your job.