As many employees continue to work independent of the office environment or in a hybrid office dynamic, the risk of data breaches continues to rise globally.
A recent reportˡ has highlighted a 19% increase in breach notifications per day in Europe in 2020 compared to 2019, and in Ireland in the last 12 months, 6,600 personal data breaches under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) were notified.
Data Protection Day is an international event aimed at raising awareness of privacy and data protection best practices. Given the volumes of data being processed and transferred through Ireland and the investment in technology and data centres, Ireland is currently third per capita in terms of breach notifications, demonstrating that data protection awareness is continuing to grow here.
RELATED: BSI forecasts 2021 cybersecurity trends
To coincide with this year’s Data Protection Day on 28 January, in its 40th year, the Consulting Services team at BSI outlines five data protection risks relating to remote working and how they can be reduced:
Conor Hogan, Global Practice Lead - Privacy - Cyber, Risk and Advisory at BSI said: “Data Protection Day is about raising awareness and implementing best practices for the protection of personal data.
"The pandemic has changed how we work, and employees have become more vulnerable outside the work environment, with many having to resort to use of their own devices to carry out their jobs. We want to encourage organizations to take ownership of security and privacy obligations and support employees in implementing high levels of awareness around data protection when working from home.
RELATED: How to deal with escalating phishing threats
“Everyone needs to be assessing their data collection, use and retention practices regularly to ensure that standards and compliance are being met and risks are reduced. Adopting a data protection compliance framework that is flexible for the hybrid office dynamic is advantageous along with focusing on continued employee training, controlled access, and encryption.
“Employers need to undertake robust data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) to ensure that data protection risks arising from the shift to remote working are identified and mitigated properly.
"Any decisions taken, such as BYOD reliance, use of remote working tools, or the remote monitoring of employees, needs to be balanced and limited only to what is necessary and proportionate. By developing and fostering a culture that respects privacy, organizations are enabling trust and strengthening their information resilience."
For more information visit bsigroup.com/cyber-ie