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Securing The Weak Link in Cyberspace

Bentley College recently hosted a half-day forum on Internet security issues. Officials from the FTC and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office joined industry experts to address both problems and solutions to Internet breaches.

Excerpts from “The FTC’s Internet Security Initiative” fact sheet include:

• Since 2001, the number of reported Internet security breaches has increased over 30 percent.
• Email volume has increased over 25 percent since 2001
• 53 percent of computer users apply the same username and password for all sites accessed
• 25 percent of users write their password down and keep it near their computer
• 50 percent of computer users fail to update virus protection software

It is realistic to assume that we all are a part of an Internet security statistic. Moreover, many of us fall under some regulatory privacy statutes. Remember, insurers do not defend you for violations of the law!

We need to decide how close our sensitive corporate documents should be to open lines. We need to do that today!

*We thank Bentley College for providing this valuable forum to the Boston business community. Materials provided by the FTC were especially valuable for web sites devoted to Internet security. Many private security consultants generously offered their expertise to the forum. This column has excerpted information provided at the forum.

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