When a global company shares that they have had a data breach, the effects trickle down from leaders to employees to customers. Customers are frustrated by having to reset their passwords and businesses are forced to make major changes to their IT security plans. Data breaches are serious problems that can force businesses to come to a standstill.
So, when a data breach happens, who is to blame? The hacker would be the obvious target, but this person can be impossible to find. It is easy to find a face in the business. Should the face belong to the leader at the top? Or, should the face belong to an employee who works in IT security? If you have questions about who is to blame, Lawmanaging can help you with the answers.
There are several reasons why employees should not be blamed for data breaches.
1. Employees follow instructions from their leaders.
Employees are tasked with jobs that are specific to their departments. They do not make major decisions without consulting with leaders. Cybersecurity breaches are only as strong as the encryption procedures leaders created. Employees follow those procedures. If employees are following procedures set by leadership, then employees cannot be faulted when those procedures do not work.
2. Employees do not pay for cybersecurity services.
Employees do not choose vendors who provide services. They also do not decide who provides the services. Employees follow through on the instructions that they are given, so if the instructions were faulty, the leader who created the instructions should be blamed.
Instead of blaming someone for major issues, businesses should look at the flaws and how to remedy them. Rather than making excuses and blaming someone for a mistake, it is better to look for solutions so the problem will not happen again. Blaming someone will not make the problem go away; it only gives people a place to direct their anger.
3. Cybersecurity decisions are made at executive levels.
When it comes to cybersecurity, the major decisions are made in higher levels of the organization. Executives and decision-makers should provide outstanding training so that employees understand how to set up passwords and how to care for their technology. Remote workers also need to be trained, but they are often set free where they can use sensitive business technology on unsecured servers.
4. A large percentage of breaches originate with a vendor.
Data breaches often happen outside of the organization. While people might look to the business for someone to blame, they should first look at a vendor. Often, the problem originates with a breach off-site. Hackers get in through the vendor, then attack the business that uses the vendor. Many businesses rely on outside software, and when those are breached, the businesses that use them suffer. Before choosing an off-site vendor, businesses need to fully investigate their security measures. If vendors cannot explain what they do to protect their customers, then you should keep looking for a better choice.
