Companies lag in I.T. security plans

Manama : Top management in Bahrain and Gulf companies are so involved in setting and meeting business goals that they are often the last to pay attention to preventive I.T. security management, said experts at the BCICAI conference. 

“The World Economic Forum recognises data breach as a major economic threat that will cost the economy $2.1 trillion by 2019,” said Sreejith Bhaskaran, senior manager, BDO Consulting WLL, who presented a talk on ‘I.T. Security – Realities & NextGen Possibilities’ along with his fellow-speaker Rohit Srivastava, “Even Bahrain, although it has a better track record than many countries, is not aware or proactive enough about preventive measures for I.T. Security.”

“In fact, people are paid to carry out large-scale data breach which is a cyber crime. What needed is a proper anti-cyber crime control and right response to handle the situation.”

Companies must have a clear action-plan for managing data breach and know the value of their data and assets, he said.

The top two preventive measures to strengthen I.T. security is the two-factor authentication and, on a personal level, avoiding phishing and sharing personal data. “This is now widely used to authenticate financial transactions where you have to use a password followed by OTP/ another password or biometric evaluation which can avoid data breach to a large extent.”

Bhaskaran advised people to avoid phishing in which one shares personal information on social media or online with sources posing as reliable companies. This makes one vulnerable to identity theft.

“Passwords and OTPs should never be shared online. Your bank statements should be received as e statements so that they get delivered to the email directly rather than the regular mail. Cyber criminals gather information from various sources and one should be very careful as awareness is of utmost importance,” he said