The Importance of Data Protection: a Real-World Example by Jennifer Burl

Here at Iron Mountain , we talk a lot about data management and protection. But what does the importance of protecting your data look like in a real-world setting?

Look no further than Apple's recent iCloud hack, which revealed hundreds of compromising celebrity photos from their personal smartphones. Actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton are among nearly 100 celebrities affected by the breach.

Initial media reports suggested that the hacks stemmed from individual accounts on iCloud, Apple's online service to store music, photos and additional data from its devices.

Apple itself says it would be surprised if its overall systems were hacked, though other reports indicate that a user had discovered a bug in Apple's Find My iPhone service, allowing him/her to keep trying passwords until finding the correct one. Find My iPhone is a service that tracks missing phones and allows users to disable their phones remotely if they are stolen. Currently, Apple and the FBI are investigating the hacking issue.

It's important to note that there are some additional theories floating around, as some of the devices involved worked on the Android platform. Theories include data acquired from physically lost devices and through e-mail phishing scams, so Apple could be in the clear.

Either way, this raises some big questions about big data.

In our recent data predictions study, we asked more than 200 IT Professionals to predict the future of data protection. 68 percent of those individuals believed that the biggest threat to data protection would be risks associated with loss and inadvertent disclosure, and we're certainly seeing the later here.

Apple is known for its commitment to privacy and innovation, but even this tech giant can't escape the risks that come with owning a massive amount of big data. So, what can a company do to help protect itself from these large-scale hacks?

Iron Mountain offers a number of ways to help companies protect their data, including our secure data and cloud backup services and disaster recovery services, among others. As a leader in data safety security, we help 94 percent of Fortune 500 companies store their most important assets. We also offer Secure Media and IT Asset Disposition services, allowing your company's smartphones, servers and other equipment to be completely wiped and destroyed or recycled, all while following e-Stewards eco-friendly destruction and recycling models. In short, your compromising data is safe with us.

Interested in learning more about how to keep your data secure? Contact us, today.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2014/service-lines/data-backup-and-recov...
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