Protection of personal data in companies

Personal data protection is defined as a series of procedures and tools that are applied mainly to safeguard and protect sensitive information within organizations, regarding both internal and external threats that may appear.

Taking this into account and the risks involved in cybercrime attacks for the operation and support of companies and organizations, below, we will talk about the importance of personal data protection in companies and how it works.

What is the protection of personal data?

The protection of personal data can be defined as a series of processes, strategies, and tools. They are developed aimed at safeguarding sensitive information of people, companies, and organizations. It is a methodology, moreover, that seeks to shield the data generated both physically and electronically from practices of information leaks, loss, system failures, and hacking, among other things.

Something important is to differentiate between the concept of data protection with respect to that of data security. While data protection is a methodology created especially to ensure that data can be recovered in the event of a loss or attack.

On the contrary, when we talk about data security, we are referring to strategies that are used to identify and stop attacks that may occur against the data of people, organizations, or companies.

Why is it important to protect data?

Nowadays, the manipulation of the databases of companies, organizations, or people represents great risks. For this reason, each one of them is obliged to establish mechanisms for the protection of personal data. In addition, many countries have data protection laws that require companies, organizations, and institutions to apply mechanisms of this nature.

The protection of personal data is also a way to have peace of mind that, in the event of an attack or problem in the system, the information can be easily recovered and operations can continue almost without interruptions.

What are the risks of personal data?

To better understand the importance of personal data protection, it is necessary to identify the risks that this data may suffer. Some of the most important are the following:

Theft of personal data

Both important information of the company or organization and personal data of customers (such as credit card data). One of the most important risks has to do with attacks aimed at stealing information. This can represent great risks and operational problems for companies.

Economic losses

Attacks linked to cybercrime can be related to techniques such as the infection of devices with malware, phishing, and identity theft, among other things. When you are the victim of such an attack, you may be running the risk of losing a lot of money. In addition, these companies are often financially exposed when sensitive information is leaked. Especially if it is linked to customers, partners, and suppliers, among other things.

Reputational issues

When a company or organization suffers an information leak, this usually reaches the media and is widely disseminated among users. If this happens, one of the things at stake is the company's digital reputation, which may begin to be frowned upon by people. In addition, users who have trusted the company may stop doing so or be afraid to put their personal data on company sites.

At 202 Digital Reputation, we accompany companies and organizations with comprehensive 360° management of digital reputation, including aspects such as reputational shielding, surveillance, and monitoring of reputational risks, among other things. Contact us and we will tell you much more about it.