In today’s M&A Digest, we learn the keys to post-acquisition success, how private equity firms thrive and what they offer businesses and that buyers are keen on acquiring family-owned companies right now, and more. [Read more…]
Is Your Company’s Data Legal?
If you haven’t heard about data sovereignty yet, you likely will soon.
Data sovereignty refers to the digital information your company uses and stores and with what laws that data must comply. In short, your data must be used and stored according to the laws of the country in which it is located.
These security requirements generally cover how information is used by the business, how it is stored and for how long. Should your security be breached, these regulations may also determine how to report the theft and what liability your company may face.
Data sovereignty is an emerging business issue since companies are quickly adopting cloud technologies while expanding into global markets. This means that your data must meet the data security requirements of the country in which it is stored, whether it’s in the United States, the European Union, China or elsewhere.
A recent webinar, Data Sovereignty: Understanding its Implications to Your Business and Investments, covered this topic in depth and is well worth a listen. Sponsored by The Deal, with experts from IntraLinks, Intel and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, the webinar makes plain that data sovereignty is an area where small- and medium-sized businesses are particularly vulnerable. [Read more…]
Is Your Business Protected From Cybercrime?
How you handle IT security is more important than ever. Ransomware, a type of malicious software that blocks access to a system until money is paid, and cyberattacks are rising across all industries, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
In 2015, the FBI reports that it received 2,453 complaints of ransomware incidents for which victims paid more than $24 million. That’s up significantly from 2014, when 1,838 victims reported that their companies paid $23.8 million between April and December.
These attacks run the gamut, and can include stealing financial details or customer information, locking up machines, launching distributed denial-of-service attacks, encrypting data or relaying spam to your customers. Ransom demands can run from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, usually paid in Bitcoins.
So what’s a CEO to do? [Read more…]
Ransomware: What It Is, What It Does, and What Can Be Done To Avoid It
Ransomware is the Trojan Horse of data destruction. It’s a vicious type of malware that creeps into your computer system and literally paralyzes it, locking up your files, videos, business documents – everything on the hard drive, really – and then demands a monetary ransom to unlock it. It’s a serious type of cyber extortion that has been around for years but has seen a recent uptick in activity, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Most malware of this type manages to encrypt or encode all of the files on infected computers. Some of these programs often claim to be from governmental or even law enforcement agencies and use scare tactics to warn the user that illegal or compromising material has been found on the computer. [Read more…]
10 Things Business Owners Must Know About Cyber Security
Cyber breaches don’t discriminate. Theft of digital information occurs at companies large and small, from local banks to major defense contractors, and has now surpassed physical theft as the most commonly reported fraud. According to the business magazine Fast Company, federal agents delivered the somber news last year to more than 3,000 U.S. companies that their computer systems had been hacked to the tune of $215 million. President Obama identified cyber attackers during a recent White House summit as a major threat to the U.S. and world economy.
Whether your business has a sophisticated, high-technological Internet presence or merely uses email and maintains a website, cyber security ought to be part of the overall game plan. Every business using the Internet is responsible for creating a culture of security that will enhance business and consumer confidence.
Usually cyber threats are blamed from the outside where crooked programmers pilfer corporate intelligence and raid your financial data. But sometimes the threat is created from the inside out when employees’ ignorance literally opens the door to cybercriminals. This can’t happen, and doesn’t have to.
It’s important to train and educate your employees BEFORE you have a data breach. Waiting to react is a mistake. Create a culture of cyber vigilance and have in place policies that will leave you cyber secure. Here are things your employees need to know to stay on their cyber toes. [Read more…]