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The numbers are staggering!  Over 260 million electronic records have been breached since January 2005, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (www.privacyrights.org), a non-profit consumer information and advocacy organization.  The same research indicates that lost or stolen laptops cause almost 50% of these public data breaches.   With recently expanded state data breach legislation this is critical as even a single lost or stolen computer can expose an organization to significant negative publicity and increased costs.

There are two drivers that directly impact growing enterprise data losses:

The power of mobility afforded by laptop computers has meant that tremendous flexibility and productivity has become the standard of business for most information workers.

Companies are continuing to collect even greater volumes of data in order to optimize business processes, improve customer service, and enhance partner relationships.  A greater volume of data directly translates to a wider distribution of that same data across an increasing number of information systems throughout the enterprise.

The result is an increased risk of compromising sensitive data as more users – both inside and outside the company – are provided with access to that data through a medium designed to be portable.

What about encryption you say?  Encryption software is commonly referred to as the computer security “fall back” and is a strong favourite for protecting against the Outsider threat. Organizations, however, still struggle to compensate for the “human factor” when it comes to effectively deploying this solution.  Encryption’s significant weakness is that it pushes the responsibility for securing sensitive data on a device down to the weakest link in the security chain – the Device User.  It relies on these individuals fully adopting the solution, following corporate policy and doing the right thing such as powering down laptops and using strong passwords.

There’s another problem.  Today’s security technologies were developed with yesterday’s paradigms.  They saw a world that was black and white – Outsiders and Insiders – with a neat line of demarcation in between.  Traditional security infrastructures were primarily designed to protect against external threats which is where encryption is targeted. Yet today, the more imminent threats to security come from inside the enterprise.  The focus on security has shifted to Insiders with broad access to sensitive data – they know where the systems are, how they interact with each other, and what data resides on which systems.  In an era where job security no longer means “a job for life” and staff helping themselves to your data following redundancy is becoming more prevalent, organizations now must look to new security options.

In summary, this mismatch between current threats and traditional security infrastructures is leading to more data breaches, increased regulation, and higher operational costs.  In turn, core business processes are negatively impacted – providing the very opposite effect that was intended by the information age.  New technologies which transcend existing enterprise infrastructures, helping organizations maintain control over their sensitive information while significantly improving external collaboration represent a rapidly growing market opportunity.  Beyond Encryption ’s solution perfectly addresses this opportunity and provides an organization with the tools it requires to enforce data security on any device that connects to its network, no matter where it is located.  This is a whole new frontier for remote information security.

With B.E. Solutions If a PC or laptop is compromised, goes missing or is stolen, the organisation can, remotely, decide and instantly activate any of the following, regardless of the devices geographic location.

• Freeze the sensitive data it contains so that it cannot be accessed (with auto and remote unfreeze)
• Lock down the PC/laptop (with auto and remote unlock)
• Retrieve the data back to the company
• Destroy the data in the PC/laptop
• Reinstate the data to the PC/laptop if it is found or if confidence is restored in the end user of the device.
• Full timed local security that can execute if the device does not connect back to the internet within a predefined time
• Ability to lock a device to a physical location. If the device is taken outside of the organisation or facility it will locally detect this and execute predefined security actions.
• This service goes beyond encryption which is not the panacea to all ills. The B.E. solution is designed to be an added security layer for when local encryption fails or is circumvented.
• The B.E solution set is also the answer to the insider threat problem (up to 75% of data breaches comes from within the organisation).
• Although encryption is highly recommended, it does not provide the security you need. With B.E the firm is always in control of its data wherever the PC or laptop device may be.