According to NBC news a data breach at PIP Printing, a major print shop with over 400 locations in 13 countries, went on for four months before being repaired in February of this year. While no evidence was found that hackers were able to take files and use them for malicious purposes, this breach continues to highlight the importance of properly configuring and securing network infrastructure.
Among the documents involved in the leak were emails containing credit card and social security numbers, legal filings, subpoenas, and documents pertaining to labor lawsuits. Additionally, medical records belonging to high-profile athletes were placed at risk.
The owner of PIP Printing, Michael Bluestein, told NBC News that the root cause of the breach was a third-party IT firm that misconfigured, by accident, the backup system and left an open "back door".
How did they fix it? And how can we avoid the same problem?
Among the corrective actions added were new firewalls and closed VPNs for backups. But these measures came all too late as the damage had already been done.
As we speak with business owners throughout the Tampa and Lakeland area, we continue to see many cases where proper backup and security are set aside in favor of cost savings. Unfortunately, the corrective action keeps taking place after an actual event instead of when the potential risk is initially identified.
We recommend a regular IT assessment - at least annually and when any network changes are made - to identify all potential risks and have a plan to mitigate them. This simple act could mean the difference between an embarrassing data breach or a simple non-event that only shows up in log files. Trust us, we've already told you how the numbers are indicating that simply being a small business with "nothing people would want" is no longer enough to stay safe any more.
Let us show you how to choose the RIGHT IT Support firm.
In the case of PIP Printing, their third-party IT vendor failed them. Sadly, we see this far too often and delivering the bad news tends to fall on us - but that also means we get to be the heroes!
Don't fall prey to a bad IT vendor, check out our free report that will guarantee you never have to suffer the embarrassment that PIP Printing did.
