Expert Reacted On Government Department Has Lost 306 Work Devices Since 2019

By   ISBuzz Team
Writer , Information Security Buzz | Mar 24, 2021 04:50 am PST

A recent Freedom of Information request found that the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has lost a total of 306 mobile and laptop devices since 2019. This raises a lot of concerns and questions over the safety of any sensitive information stored on these devices.

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Simon Mullis
Simon Mullis , Chief Technology Officer
March 24, 2021 12:55 pm

<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These official figures highlight the importance endpoint security plays in protecting an organisation. If sensitive government data falls into the hands of malicious actors due to devices being lost, it opens new avenues for attackers to probe and exploit. Losing governmental data – including that of citizens –  has serious consequences that can’t be taken lightly. With offices set to reopen later this year and employees likely to be working away from home more and more, businesses and public sector bodies need to make sure they have the adequate infrastructure and capabilities in place to deal with a potential increase in lost or stolen staff devices. When a business – or other entity, such as a Government Department – cannot give an up-to-date, to-the-minute view of the vulnerabilities, patch status, or any other characteristics of their managed devices and assets, then they are blind to the activities of malicious actors. In many cases, these kinds of data and device losses can erode public trust and damage the duty-of-care that any organization holds when handling citizen or customer data.</p> <p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </p> <p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Theft or loss of devices and attempted hacking is inevitable. Organisations must ensure that all of their endpoint devices can be managed remotely by IT and security teams, this allows the teams to spot any unusual activity on staff devices at an early stage. Access can then be blocked by the IT team to prevent any unwanted access to data. Finally, it’s crucial to be able to remotely remediate any security breaches to reduce disruption and data-loss.</p>

Last edited 3 years ago by Simon Mullis

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