With so much sensitive data traveling outside your firewall on laptops, it's not if, but when that data is going to end up in the wrong hands. You've seen the headlines—big companies, big breaches, big news.
But there are lesser-known breaches that are just as devastating. And, too often, those breaches involve unprotected mobile devices:
- When a financial representative lost his laptop, the bank he worked for had to notify every customer that their policy information may have been exposed.
- At one Texas hospital, an employee's laptop was stolen. Data losses included sensitive patient information, including social security numbers.
- A laptop went missing at a gift shop, exposing the names, addresses, and bank accounts of consultants, New Hampshire residents, and an unreported number of other affected individuals nationwide.
- Two laptop computers went missing at a medical office. Both laptops contained the names, social security numbers, and diagnoses data of patients. The office involved has since encrypted all hard drives that contain patient information.
Mobile devices are designed to be portable. That means you can take them anywhere. It also means anyone can take them. And what happens next isn't pretty.