The potential for losing information in a data center security breach becomes a concern after the event has actually happened, with organizations only getting serious about improving their security protocols if that loss can affect the bottom line, in the opinion of an industry thought leader.
According to David Lacey, a security expert with 25 years of experience of directing policy in the UK at companies such as Shell, business leaders should be more proactive in terms of access control, with regulatory compliance no substitute for actual data loss prevention. Speaking at a recent conference in Canberra, Australia, Lacey went to great lengths to explain how infrastructures within companies can be affected by external elements, with the value of that data seen as integral to the need to improve security at every level.
"In these organizations you can have very strict rules, all you need to do is have a very big set of rules and laws, create a perimeter around it, and you've got a secure organization," he said, according to CSO.com. "The organization of the future will be enabled by networks with very soft internal rules and relationships – very soft policies because it's constantly changing. It's constantly creating new relationships, new products, its moving very fast, so it's very outward looking. It will be an entirely different organization where the emphasis is on flows of information and relationships, not on fixed assets."
Assessing a potential loss
Lacey's remarks would certainly seem to fit into the current mood surrounding data center security. While the media has concentrated on the ongoing NSA revelations, businesses have become aware of how valuable their data can be in the wrong hands. According to Midsize Insider, his opinions could be seen as closing the door after the horse has bolted, but they highlight just how important data center security has become for business owners in general, with the news source noting that "convincing business leaders of the perils of data loss and poor data integrity is a good first step."
Over the last few years, data breaches have become increasingly common, with many of them going unreported by the companies involved. What is more worrying is that there continues to be an attitude that these breaches happen to other people, a scenario that may contribute to a reactive rather than proactive stance by some business leaders. Naturally, every organization will look at data center security differently, but it is always worth bearing in mind that putting the right tools in place to prevent loss at the start could make a world of financial difference.