Tag Archives: Personally Identifiable Information

02.23.21
by

Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Why You Need To Secure Your Customer Data

Are you risking a cyber attack by unknowingly allowing access to your clients’ personal information?

 

When you expose customer data, you become vulnerable to cyber attacks. Even if the breach is unintentional, you still risk getting sued for breaking confidentiality. And you will certainly be liable for violating legal compliance.

 

As a result, it’s important to secure customer data so you can avoid a cyber attack and the headache that comes with it.

 

Now that you know the importance of this, let’s take a look at the customer data in question, also known as Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

 

What is PII?

 

PII refers to any information maintained by an agency that can be used to identify or trace an individual.

 

In other words, PII includes data points that such as:

 

  • Social security number
  • Mother’s maiden name
  • Tax identification number
  • Date of birth
  • Biometric data
  • Race & religion
  • Location data

 

Any of the above information can be used to identify anonymous data.

 

So, why is it so important to protect PII?

 

Why Secure Your Customer Data?

 

If your organization handles PII, you must take steps to secure your customer data.

 

Not only is this essential from a compliance standpoint, but with security breaches on the rise, you have to make sure customer PII is not being compromised.

 

Is it really that common? In short, yes.

 

As a frame of reference, Risk Based Security revealed that by the end of 2020, a total of 36 billion records had been exposed and compromised.

 

When you put this information at risk, you lose the trust of your customers, thus damaging your company’s reputation. Plus, this enables hackers to steal your sensitive data and proprietary information. What’s more, if you are found negligent, you might end up facing fines, lawsuits, and more.

 

In particular, healthcare facilities and financial institutions must carefully collect and store customer data so that it remains confidential. The repercussions of falling short are severe.

 

Regardless of your industry, if you manage PII, you need to protect it. Are you ready to get started?

 

Protect Personally Identifiable Information With Third Power IT

 

If your business handles PII, you can’t risk putting customer data at risk.

 

A breach of this kind can result in:

  • Getting fined or sued
  • Losing loyal customers
  • Closing your business for good

 

Don’t let this happen to you.

 

Protect PII now with the help of Third Power IT, Miami’s best cybersecurity consultants. Visit www.ThirdPowerIT.com to learn more and get started now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Why You Need To Secure Your Customer Data appeared first on Third Power IT – Managed IT Services.

Courtesy of Miami IHIPAA Compliance IT Company - ThirdPowerIT.com