Data breaches are an increasingly serious problem for businesses and organizations of all sizes. In the digital age, it is becoming more commonplace for companies and organizations to store sensitive data both locally and in the cloud. Unfortunately, this also makes them vulnerable to data breaches, which can lead to unauthorized access to and or misuse of confidential or personal information.
In Australia, two of the most significant recent data breaches were the Optus telco data breach in September 2020 and the Medibank Private health insurer breach in December 2019. Both led to massive amounts of personal data belonging to customers and employees being exposed due to compromised systems.
In response to these breaches, the Australian government has proposed the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 which will significantly increase the penalties for serious data breaches. The maximum fines will be increased from the current AUS $2.22 million (~$1.4 million) to whichever is the greater of AUS $50 million (~$32 million); 3x the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information; or 30% of a company’s adjusted turnover in the relevant period.
These potential penalties provide an incentive for companies to take the necessary steps to protect their customer’s data as well as protect themselves from potential fines and penalties. One such step is to use secure file transfer technology to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.
What Is Secure File Transfer Solutions ?
Secure file transfer technology is a way for organizations to securely send and receive data, usually over the Internet. It is designed to protect data from unauthorized access, modification, or deletion. Secure file transfer technology uses encryption, authentication, and other security measures to ensure that only the intended users have access to the data. This means that only an authorized individual with the correct credentials can open and view the data, and the sender will have proof that the recipient has received it. This makes it virtually impossible for malicious actors to intercept the data.
Why Should You Move To Quantum-Safe Encryption Solutions?
At the moment, the world runs on centralized data storage systems, reduced to a few monopolizing companies. Currently, there are relatively few options for data storage and secure transfer, and the most-used databases are enormous.
The problem with a centralized storage system is that one single security breach, virus, or hack could jeopardize the entire database. That risk could run to millions, even billions of pieces of data.
The next major development in technology is quantum computing, and it is going to be a major security headache unless we make plans now.
The topic of concern is that most of the popular public-key algorithms currently used to encrypt data can easily be broken in the coming future.
Future Proof Your Data Now
The Australian government is taking steps to improve data privacy and security by increasing the penalties for data breaches, but this will not solve the upcoming risks. Although quantum computers do not yet have the processing power to break any tough cryptographic algorithms, it will not be long before they start to appear.
It is critical that we move to a safe, secure data transfer model right now. But it’s not impossible, we recommend you try Blaze quantum End-to-end encryption solution and collaborate with your colleagues and clients without any fear of data breaches, even with Quantum Computers.