Data breach and privacy in the digital era

Abstract

The trend of data breaches globally is attracting concerns from business owners and the government of different countries. Notwithstanding the multiple pieces of legislation and strict requirements for reducing crime, there has been an exponential increase in data breach incidents. These crimes result in the loss of billions of dollars annually from small entities and large enterprises. Data breaches did not only start during the digital era with technological advancement; they started when individuals and organizations stored and maintained their data and records onpremises. However, as technology advances and computer systems become more accessible and affordable, coupled with poor management of sensitive documents, data breaches occur when individuals view other people’s files without authorization. The rate of data breaches rose from 1980 to the early 2000s, giving rise to awareness of the canker. Laws and regulatory agencies such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards were then established to guide sensitive data and the custodians. Regulatory frameworks developed as best practices to secure sensitive information are, however, not being implemented exhaustively, thereby not able to gatekeep satisfactorily. Data breach frequency is high in the digital era. The digital era exposes organizations and individuals continually to potential security breaches. Technologies like artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and data modeling make it possible to design algorithms and neural networks that help anticipate events and generate more data. Subsequently, fling open the gates to potential data breaches. In essence, it becomes absolutely necessary to consider the aftermath of information security and privacy in this digital era.