September 10
In the aftermath of July’s cyberattack on Ashley Madison—a website that offers users access to carry on illicit affairs with other users—there are many questions that remain. Public opinion has been divided on whether the hackers’ actions are morally justified and duly deserving—a sort of “cheaters’ karma,” if you will—or if the breach of security and data theft should be treated as a serious violation of trust and privacy.
No matter what your stance on the issue or where your interest lies, there is one important lesson that everyone should be taking from the incident: your data is not as safe as you think it is, in spite of what most companies would like you to believe and the potential for various kinds of data loss is real.
The apparent vulnerability of sensitive data submitted online is cause for alarm and serious consideration. Even if you deem the Impact Team’s deed as an overall act of justice—illegal as it may be, the incident needs to be seen as a warning to the public that no one is 100% safe from falling victim to data theft and corruption.
As a data storage and recovery specialist, it’s part of our mission to spread awareness about the risks and vulnerabilities to data loss, corruption, and theft. No matter how secure a website seems to be or how well-known the brand, any establishment that offers cloud-based storage or uses remotely-located servers for data storage comes with some level of risk.
We’ve discussed data security in years past, warning people of the associated vulnerabilities of cloud storage and networks with off-site servers. From familiar consumer-focused cloud storage providers such as Dropbox and Google Drive, to online subscription services like Ashley Madison, sharing data online inherently comes with some of the same risks that offline data is susceptible to.
You can find our 5 part series on data safety here: http://www.cbldatarecovery.com/blog/tag/data-safety-series/
Being aware of the risks and vulnerabilities of sharing your data online is the first step to protecting yourself against data theft and loss. When it comes to data safety, there are two sides: data protection and data destruction. Think twice about who you give your data to and think over the repercussions that would result if that data was to become compromised. When you have stored personal or private information, online and off, if not protected or destroyed properly it can be retrieved and recovered and fall into the wrong hands.
Category: data loss prevention
Tags: ashley madison, cloud storage, cyberattack, data safety, data security, hackers, hacking, security, wiping
