There isn't a company in existence that doesn't have trade secrets and intellectual property worth protecting. The threats may come from computer hacking or from careless end users not paying attention to processes and procedures. One does not exclude the other. Poor cyber-hygiene makes the likelihood of systems and device compromises a real possibility.
Tim Mather of Cadence Design Systems discussed intellectual property protection during his talk "Will Your Company Be to Intellectual Property What Mt. Gox Was to Bitcoin?" at the RSA Conference Asia Pacific & Japan in Singapore in July. "Loss of a company's IP can be disastrous," Mather asserted. It can put you out of work and your company out of business. Malicious insiders or criminal attacks are the most costly data breach incidents, according to the Ponemon Institute's latest survey on the cost of a data breach. Companies have a rough ride ahead, as surveyed companies reported they expect to deal with the following on a monthly basis:
- 17 incidents dealing with malicious codes
- 12 sustained probes
- 10 unauthorized access incidents