The Three “Rs” of Data Breaches: Risks, Regulations and Reporting

Risks — Schools are uniquely vulnerable to data breaches and identity theft

Colleges and universities handle the personally identifiable information of their students, faculty and staff. Unfortunately, that information can be easily mishandled, lost or stolen. Add to that a school population that does a lot of shopping and banking online and is bombarded with credit offers — an average of 17 solicitations a month — and you have a perfect storm for a data breach disaster.

• 86% of data breaches are not IT related and could be prevented through better policies and training
• 18-29 year olds have the highest rates of identity theft
• Identity theft incidents at schools increased 300% over the past four years

Regulations — New laws create greater penalties for data breaches

Federal and state governments are enacting dozens of complex laws to crack down on data breaches. While these efforts are important to combat identity theft, they can create compliance headaches for your school. Worst of all, a single breach can have devastating financial consequences in legal penalties.

• 44 states have enacted new data protection and privacy laws
• Federal Red Flag Rules require more reporting and notification
• A single breach can cost your school hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs and fines

Reporting — Data breaches can affect your staff’s productivity and your school’s reputation

When you have a data breach, a web of regulations will require your school to file reports to government agencies and, in many cases, notify everyone affected. This can drain untold hours of staff time and create a public relations nightmare. Schools across the country are experiencing backlash from students, alumni associations, donors and parents who are outraged when their personal information is put at risk.

Identity Force has a complete solution to address all three data breach “Rs”

Our fully-managed solution allows your school to focus on education by eliminating the threat of data breaches. Identity Force takes a comprehensive approach that includes:

• Prevention — Industry-leading tools to stop identity theft and maintain legal compliance
• Education — Training and best practices to keep personnel from exposing personally identifiable information
• Response — Emergency breach response and incident investigation to close gaps, update policies and notify affected victims and provide them with identity protection services

We back our full-cycle program with a $50,000 Service Guarantee to provide financial and operational security. [click here to learn more]