Keeping your data safe is serious business. Last year, sensitive data went missing from hospitals, schools, businesses and government facilities a staggering 1,037 times, according to the Open Security Foundation.
Many times the information was hacked, as it was during the recent attack on theUtah Department of Health when cyber thugs stole the personal information of 780,000 people. But stolen computers also are high on the data-loss list, with 14 percent of victims reporting a stolen laptop, desktop or disk drive.
So be extra careful. The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas recently learned that lesson the hard way when an unencrypted laptop was stolen from a faculty member’s home, threatening the personal information of 30,000 patients. With Social Security numbers in the mix, the cancer center could encounter a costly class-action lawsuit in the months ahead.
Here’s a look at the latest data. If you’d like to see more, the Open Security Foundation has an amazing collection of data-based statistics.
