Businesses Have To Be Vigilant Too!
According to the FBI Director, Robert Mueller, “a command sent over a network to a power station’s control computer could be just as deadly as a backpack full of explosives.” As incidents of records being compromised, data being lost and identities stolen become more rampant, one would think businesses would be more incline to report any intrusion on their computer systems to the proper authorities.
“Most businesses [however] do not report cyber attacks to law enforcement officials fearing the disclosure would harm their image and benefit rivals,” says Mueller.
Unfortunately, this reluctance of businesses to admit their exposure to law enforcement gives thieves and terriorists more lattitude and opportunity. Mueller stresses that “maintaining a code of silence will not benefit [businesses] in the long run. We cannot investigage if we are not aware of the problem.”
Whether a security breach affects a business or an individual, law enforcement officials, both locally and nationally, need information in order to stop unlawful actions by both terrorists and thieves utilizing the internet . Business owners must realize that keeping silent can give their competition a greater edge. Why?
If a business owner has a security breach and doesn’t work with law enforcement to find and stop the activity, his/her business will continue to be vulnerable. That vulnerability may ultimately provide, not just the competition, but other entities with the information and/or means to cripple the owner’s business.
Business owners, just like individual consumers, need to be vigilant about protecting their company “identity” and/or “data”. It is imperative that companies realize the inherent risks if a breach of security goes unreported. A temporarily tarnished image in the short-term is far better than continued vulnerability on multiple levels during the long-run.