2013 CHECK POINT ANNUAL SECURITY REPORT
04
DATA LOSS INCIDENTS
IN YOUR NETWORK
Corporate Data: Organizations’ Most
Valuable Asset
Corporate data is more accessible and transferable today
than ever before; the vast majority of which is sensitive at
various levels. Some are confidential because it contains
internal corporate information which is not intended
to be made public. Other confidential data might be
sensitive due to corporate requirements, national laws, or
international regulations. In many cases, the value of the
data is dependent on its level of confidentiality - consider
intellectual property and competitive information.
To further complicate the matter, there are numerous
tools and practices which can lead to data leakage. Some of
these include cloud servers, Google Docs and the simple
unintentional abuse of company procedures such as an
employee bringing work home.
Data Leakage Can Happen to Anybody
Data leakage is not always caused by cybercriminals.
It can happen unintentionally by the actions of well-
intentioned employees. A classified document maybe
mistakenly sent to the wrong person, a sensitive
document might be shared on a public site or a work
file may be sent to an unauthorized home email account.
These scenarios may inadvertently happen to anybody,
with devastating results. Loss of sensitive data can lead
to brand damage, compliance violations, lost revenue or
even hefty fines.
Our Research
When an organization determines to define which data
should not be sent externally, a number of variables must
be considered: What type of data is it? Who owns it? Who
is sending it? Who is the intended recipient? When is it
being sent? What are the associated business disruption
repercussions caused by a hyper-restrictive security policy?
of the Organizations in our
Research had at least One
Potential Data Loss Incident
54
%
