Subscribe in a readerHow many organisations get hacked? A lot.
This article explains that a large number of organisations have security breaches in their network and they mostly go unreported. This makes sense as it would be bad publicity to acknowledge that their customer’s records are vulnerable to hackers. Still it’s important for everyone to be aware how often it really happens.
It’s also important to keep in mind how much information you provide to companies. Personal details like a drivers license number, date of birth, mother’s maiden name etc often aren’t necessary to do business with a supplier. All this information, including marketing information, is often stored for years by companies. Whether or not they have a privacy policy the information is there, and people like hackers don’t abide with privacy policies. So be aware of what information you divulge.
And it’s really up to every organisation to be accountable for their security. At the moment the laws in most countries aren’t strong enough to enforce this, so not much will change until matters get worse.
PCLive – A Free Security Suite
One of the best methods of encouraging people to upgrade their computer’s security is to provide the tools for free. This security suite, PCLive Security, bundles a free antivirus product (ClamAV), a personal firewall and a popup (and adware) blocker. I haven’t had a chance to test it but it certainly looks promising.
There’s a paid version that also offers support, a hard drive maintenance module and a file optimisation module and a few other extra features. The price is US$4.95 a month, which is on par with other packages.
There’s a review here with a response from the CEO of PCLive providing a better idea of what it can do.
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