Do Big Fines Prevent Data Leaks?
You’ve seen the big headlines – one company after another leaks personal information and then is fined by the government. But this begs the questions, do the fines and punishments actually result in any improvements?
British Airways was hit with a $230 million fine by United Kingdom regulators for a 2018 breach. Equifax paid out at least $575 million for its 2017 data breach. According to Threatpost, the European Union’s introduction of “General Data Protection Regulation” could exact an even higher financial penalty on breached companies going forward, given a provision that fines can run up to $25 million or 4 percent of annual revenue.
The size and scale of breaches and fines seem to go up in unison. The more data that is leaked, the bigger the fine. However, companies can haggle with the government to reduce their fine or work out an agreement that ultimately leaves people like you and me in a tight spot. How many times have you been compensated after a data breach with “free credit monitoring” and “threat alerts?” Being offered free credit monitoring after a huge data leak doesn’t really solve the problem. It’s 2019 and modern solutions are required to combat identity theft and fraud.
Wiperts.com goes a step beyond just scanning the internet for your personal information – Wiperts goes ahead and removes your sensitive data from the public eye, which is really what you need. Basic credit monitoring and threat alerts can only tell you that you have a problem. Removing the root cause is far more effective than helplessly looking at notifications telling you that your private information has been found online.
Data breaches continue to hit the billion-number mark, but so far, few billion-dollar fines (if any) have been doled out. We’ve yet to see fine big enough to make mega corporations across the board really ramp up their cyber security. However, with the new GDPR law, businesses operating in the European Union can be fined up to 4 percent of annual revenue, which really affects their bottom-line. These laws are fairly new, so don’t expect immediate results. To find out how you can keep your data safe, contact Wiperts today.
Info@wiperts.com
