2010 Look Ahead: Chief Security Concerns for Chief Executives

As we turn the page to 2010 and look to delve into the top–level security concerns that lie ahead, we’d be remiss not to reflect on those security events that helped shape 2009 into the ‘year of the data breach,’ and take these as learning experiences for the New Year.

With the economy in its worst state in decades, we saw IT budgets decimated and security threats evolve into clever, sophisticated entities that caused serious havoc for organizations. Do the names Kaiser Permanente, Fannie Mae and Stens Corporation ring a bell? These big name organizations experienced some of the most high-profile data breaches as a result of poor security and access management policies. And whether it is a result of disgruntled employees, inappropriate password sharing or terminated employees retaining access rights, these events point to a trend that isn’t going away.

Now let’s focus our attention back to 2010 and break down the top-level security concerns chief executives need to focus on to protect the integrity of their organization. The global economic downturn and wave of breaches mentioned above are clear indicators that these types of activities are only going to propagate more strongly in 2010, as threats are not only escalating but becoming more sophisticated and damaging. And to help protect these organizations, we are seeing an increased number of federal compliance regulations set in place—HITECH ACT, Data Breach Notification Laws, HIPAA, Meaningful Use of EMRs, etc.

Understanding these regulations and having strong security policies in place are critical to starting 2010 off on the right foot. On Wednesday, January 27th we will be conducting a webinar demo on Imprivata OneSign and will have a discussion on how technologies such as single sign-on (SSO) strengthen user authentication to network applications, streamline application access and simplify the process of compliance reporting—key elements to understanding the changing security landscape in 2010. We encourage you to attend and participate, and share your ideas for the New Year.

--David