Jail Time for CEO’s responsible for a Data Breach?
Jail Time for CEO’s responsible for a Data Breach?
April 10, 2008: Websense has released the results of an international survey of security professionals, with a quarter of respondents believing CEO’s and board members should face jail time over data breach responsibility.
Conducted at this year’s e-Crime Congress, the survey has revealed 79% of respondents believe companies experiencing serious data breaches should be fined and 59% believe this money should be distributed to the customers and victims of the breach. The statistic that’s sure to cause a few queasy stomaches in the board room is the fact that 95% of the security professionals surveyed believe that the CEO or the board should be held accountable; with 25% believing the member responsible for the data breach should face incarceration.
“This survey indicates a strengthening opinion for action to be taken against cybercrime and data loss on a broader scale than ever before. We do expect to see more stringent regulation for security breaches, including those that involve the loss of personal data,” said Phil Vasic, ANZ Country Manager, Websense.
Despite the focus data loss is getting in the media, 45% of those surveyed believe companies are not putting the protection of their confidential data as a high enough priority.
According to Vasic, Board members should ensure action is taken to protect their organisation’s essential information from emerging web-based and e-mail borne security threats and data loss to prevent sensitive information getting into the wrong hands.