The ALS Group Risk Management Articles

The Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) of approximately 10,000 past and present employees of Seagate Technology, a leading electronics and data storage solutions manufacturer, was handed over freely to cybercriminals. The information included W-2 forms, names of beneficiaries, social security numbers of employees and spouses, etc. Needless to say, the impacted people are not thrilled and have brought suit against Seagate for malpractice and a lack of regard for employees affected by the negligent handling of data.

I’ve headed off on vacation with my wife and kid in sunny Florida, but didn’t want to miss posting something useful for Cyber Tuesday.  Having been preaching the “dos” and “don’ts” of data security for businesses, I had to make sure my own mobile devices were secured while on the move.  My wife will probably disagree, but, in my opinion securing your data (both personal and professional) while on the go is just as, if not more important than making sure you packed your toothbrush and sunscreen.

Cisco has released the 2016 Midyear Cybersecurity Report and their findings point to future, more sophisticated types of ransomware that will take full advantage of systems with less than satisfactory security measures, patching practices, and detection rates.

In several of my most recent “Cyber Tuesday” posts, I’ve discussed the importance of developing a comprehensive cyber risk mitigation strategy which includes IT security measures, well thought out incident response, business continuity documentation and cyber insurance. A recent ransomware event at the University of Calgary shifted the focus to the cyber insurance.