Survey Finds Privacy Protection a Lost Cause

Black Hat today released a new report, Where Cybersecurity Stands, based on a survey of Black Hat USA attendees. The survey looked, in part, at whether privacy protection is a lost cause and posed questions to more than 300 top information security professionals about privacy, election hacking, the US federal government’s ability to handle cyber-threats, nation-state attacks, the cryptocurrency hype and the perceived risks to the nation’s critical infrastructure. The survey revealed that only 26% of respondents believe individuals will be able to protect their online identity and privacy in the future. These results were reportedly influenced by a string of data breach announcements coupled with the recent Facebook investigation. Because of growing concerns about the collection, use and sharing of data on social networks, 55% of respondents warn Facebook users to think differently about what data they share. In addition, 75% noted that they have either limited their use of or avoided using Facebook. According to the survey, cybersecurity professionals grow more concerned about the safety of their own users and data, as well as their privacy. They also have a growing concern about the security of increasingly connected systems and the stability of national and international environments. “In short, the professionals who are most familiar with today’s cybersecurity environment are in broad agreement that the systems that today serve as platforms for personal, political, and financial interchange are at significant risk of compromise – or even collapse,” the report stated.

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GuidePoint Security Announces Portfolio of Data Security Governance Services

GuidePoint Security | January 30, 2024

GuidePoint Security, a cybersecurity solutions leader enabling organizations to make smarter decisions and minimize risk, today announced the availability of its Data Security Governance services, which are designed to help customers address the challenges of unstructured data and data sprawl through a proven process and program to meet their unique needs. GuidePoint’s Data Security Governance services consist of policies, standards, and processes leveraging the newest technologies to meet organizations’ data governance goals in both on-prem and cloud environments. Once the right strategy is determined with the customer, GuidePoint Security consultants will review program requirements, assess current policies and controls, perform gap analysis, design and develop/enhance the program, recommend and implement supporting technologies, and create operational processes and metrics. “Whether an organization is just beginning to build their data security governance program or needs help assessing and improving an existing program, our team and service capabilities are built to meet them at their current maturity level,” said Scott Griswold, Practice Director - Security Governance Services, GuidePoint Security. “We work side by side with the customer to conduct the necessary data discovery in their environment and provide tailored recommendations for solutions and processes to ultimately build/improve upon the data security governance program.” GuidePoint’s Data Security Governance Services include: Sensitive Data Cataloging: For organizations just getting started in the process of protecting their sensitive data, GuidePoint offers Data Identification workshops to identify sensitive data types in the environment, including trade secrets, intellectual property, and sensitive business communications. Data Security Governance Program Assessment: For organizations with existing Data Security Governance or Data Protection programs, GuidePoint Security experts will assess the program to identify policy non-compliance, gaps in data protection requirements—whether legal, regulatory, contractual, or business—and program maturity levels. Data Security Governance Program Strategy Development: The GuidePoint team will work with an organization's key stakeholders to design a program strategy aligned with relevant requirements. The outputs of this effort include delivering ongoing sensitive data discovery, automated classification and labeling, the application of required sensitive data protections, restrictions on where sensitive data can be stored and sent, and data retention policy enforcement. Merger and Acquisition Data Identification: This offering provides the ability to identify sensitive data within an M&A target or recent acquisition (including locations, amounts, and access rights) and then perform penetration testing on the storage repositories where that sensitive data exists to determine the risk of data compromise. About GuidePoint Security GuidePoint Security provides trusted cybersecurity expertise, solutions and services that help organizations make better decisions that minimize risk. Our experts act as your trusted advisor to understand your business and challenges, helping you through an evaluation of your cybersecurity posture and ecosystem to expose risks, optimize resources and implement best-fit solutions. GuidePoint’s unmatched expertise has enabled a third of Fortune 500 companies and more than half of the U.S. government cabinet-level agencies to improve their security posture and reduce risk. Learn more at www.guidepointsecurity.com.

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