Member Article

Deloitte hack demonstrates the need for security, productivity and innovation in today’s cyber-threat landscape, says BOHH Labs

The latest news of the Deloitte cyber-attack that compromised confidential data - including the private emails of some of its clients - should serve as a reminder to both individuals and organizations that any lapse in cyber defense renders an organization seriously vulnerable. This is according to Simon Bain, CEO of BOHH Labs.

Reports suggest that hackers managed to gain access to Deloitte’s email server through an administrator account that wasn’t secured using two-factor authentication. This breach further demonstrates the increasing challenge businesses have to find a balance between business productivity and innovation, as digital services continue running today’s business operations, without jeopardizing security of the company’s data and confidential information. In response, Bain argues that incidents like this will continue to occur, unless organizations find a way to minimize business risk and disruption while innovating secure digital products for their customers.

He commented: “Deloitte is just the latest in a long line of companies to have fallen victim to a data breach, and this hack highlights how difficult it is for institutions to stay completely protected across all their digital channels. Now that we live in a world where business is heavily reliant on technology, criminals see a massive market for stolen data, which has driven a huge initiative from security experts to focus on the safety of their clients’ data – yet despite best efforts breaches still continue to take place.”

To mitigate this growing threat, Bain suggests that there must be a balance and business decision-making between security, productivity, and innovation. Finding a cyber security solution that enhances data privacy without disrupting the business workflow will be the cornerstone for future success. BOHH Labs focuses on ensuring the secure transport of data in real-time using unique encryption algorithms and our own Artificial Intelligence (AI) security platform that acts as a first line of defense against internal and external intrusions. We encrypt all data in real-time, but only providing access to data to authorized parties. “With this approach, in the event of an unauthorized user accessing data, our security techniques would render that data unusable for that person. Because we focus on protecting data from within, this combination allows companies to provide a safe and secure method to offer digital services to their connected customers, 24/7 from anywhere on any device” he said.

Bain adds, whilst it is important to keep data protected, it also serves no benefit to keep it protected if it is not accessible. BOHH believes that users need the ability to access their data securely from anywhere on any device. Solutions like document-level encryption at rest and in transit will be key to securing data as it is accessed, shared and stored, while still maintaining productivity levels within a business. With this ability, the worry of third-party intervention, hacking and data loss is greatly reduced, as well as time-wasted looking for data or even loss of data all together.

The last important piece to the puzzle is securely fostering innovation. Today’s organisations require a level of flexibility to meet customers’ mobile demands. As organizations start to rethink the way they secure their data, they must also take in to consideration how their customers want to interact with them. “Fostering interfaces that delivers seamless and secure transaction of all incoming and outgoing customer data requests in real-time without compromising performance, customer experience or customer accessibility, will be key. While it is no easy task, companies must be able to provide a safe and secure method to offer digital services to their connected customers and enable them 24/7 communication regarding their account information from any device,” Bain concluded.

As we move deeper into a digitally connected world and hackers continue to capitalize on our reliance to technology, the development of future cyber security solutions must take in to consideration how to help companies minimize business risk without disruption to workflow or innovating secure digital products for their customers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by BOHH Labs .