The number of data theft cases heard in the High Court has sharply increased, according to UK law firm EMW. It seems that this is due to the availability of cloud storage, in addition to an increase in people working remotely for companies, away from the office. Between 2011 and 2012, there was a huge 58% increase in the number of such cases heard in the High Court, rising from 106 to 167 respectively.
It has been suggested that there was a 250% increase when compared to 2010 (45 cases), but this was somewhat of an anomaly, having decreased from 95 cases in 2009. In recent years however, there has be a definite increase, which is bad news for businesses in a variety of ways. Most cases heard by the High Court were civil, taken out by companies against former employees who had stolen company data.
The average legal cost of such cases is lb30,000 according to reports, which doesn’t factor in the value of any data stolen. This is difficult to value due to possible financial and business related costs of the data theft. In addition, data is almost impossible to retrieve or track once taken.
Dropbox, SkyDrive and other cloud storage services have been blamed as being a major factor in the increased levels of data theft. These services allow unhappy employees to transfer both easily and quickly, very large amounts of data. Another factor cited is that of the increasing number of people working remotely, and therefore having access to company databases outside of the office, making data theft more of a temptation.
In the fantasy world of a Hollywood film, our data thieving hero would nervously be watching the progress bar on the computer as his adversary’s footsteps approached. However, the reality is far easier for the data thief. Watching TV at home in their chair, he or she can steal or transfer data with ease, and without being observed, at least physically.
Data leak protection (DLP) systems are ideal to monitor and detect such instances, together with increasing restrictions on the employees able to access data. DLP can monitor even fragments of data being accessed or moved, as well as monitoring file transfer at any level, and are also capable of placing restrictions on such activities. Additional controls such as web filtering of cloud storage services, or blocking use of USB devices and DVD burners, could also help, as a preventative measure.
It could be that companies are failing to implement these measures, or that in fact, such measures are becoming more effective, catching more data thieves red handed. Theft of data, however, remains a big problem.
Company data needs careful protection and monitoring; keeping employees happy is one way to help. However, data theft penalties are seemingly not as effective as they could be at deterring such activities amongst employees.
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