The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in May 2018, bringing with it no doubt whatsoever that when enforced it will be the responsibility of the data holder to become protective of their customers. Negligence, ignorance and misfortune will not be grounds for pleading innocence with the GDPR and with a maximum fine of 4% of the company’s global turnover and a companies ruined reputation, there has never been a better time to investigate just how vulnerable your security protocol is.
In the rapidly evolving technological world in which companies now operate, the number of opportunities for potential attackers is forever increasing. Computer networks are well established, which allows strategy on both sides of the cyber security struggle to be well documented, well examined and consequently improved upon. The protocols used in data protection just 5 years ago would be woefully insufficient in today’s infrastructure. In the vast majority of network infrastructures, a vulnerability is identified, tested, fixed and forgotten before any exploitation can cause damage. However, this is not as straightforward with networked security solutions. CCTV, Access Control, Audio/Video Entry Systems and even Fire Alarms, if networked, could all be considered part of a system, and consequently could all provide easy access to data.
The decades of research and technology available to traditional networked systems has never been available to security solutions and the technologies behind protecting a computer are simply incompatible with a CCTV camera, for example, that has limited processing power, memory and interface. Should a potential attacker target a large network in which the security solution has a fraction of the protection of the data they are trying to retrieve, it becomes obvious where they would focus their efforts.
Not only will stored customer data be a huge target that would breach GDPR but unsecured camera footage could also come under failure to protect privacy. With demand increasing for high specification CCTV equipment that can record clearer, smoother images, covering sensitive areas such as tills, computer screens and ATMs, it is becoming more plausible that footage of private data will become sufficient to trigger a breach of confidentiality. All of these potential avenues of failure to comply could become a worrying prospect for a CCTV system owner, with the very means by which they keep their business secure being the most threatening of all.
Fortunately, the industry has had an overwhelming response to these realisations. Manufacturers of high end equipment are introducing increasingly complex innovations for eliminating risk both in their hardware and software options. Furthermore, WOT’s graduate team of IT and Networking experts are industry leaders in network expertise and consultancy, placing the company in a prime position to be able to work with the ever increasing demands of this high technology industry. The state of the art staging facility at WOT’s headquarters allows for all security systems to be watertight in their design and implementation before arrival on site. This allows for each installation to run as smoothly as possible and with the highest level of attention paid to the tremendous importance of cyber security.
