Daily there are new articles that talk about data breaches, cyber attacks, ransom ware, etc. We all panic when our networks are down for routine maintenance – “I don’t have anything to do!” Imagine a world where everything is driven by data and machines?
Today a data breach can be uncomfortable – personal information is shared with the wrong people. However, in years to come a data breach can mean the difference between life and death. Imagine cruising down the freeway in your autonomous driving car and the system is hacked and your car stops abruptly, but other cars do not. Imagine being on the operating table and having a robot operating on you, the system is breached and instead of taking out your appendix the bad guys makes it remove your spleen or worse – kill you.
In the years to come we all need to get a lot more educated about data security and how to avoid breaches. This applies in both our personal and professional lives. We need to ask questions of organizations we provide data to and consume data from – how well are they performing and how vested are they in keeping us safe.
Data security needs to move into mainstream conversations and be an integral part of any security initiative.