The recent prison escape of drug lord Joaquin Guzman, better known as El Chapo, is a testament to the power of technology within criminal organizations. That Guzman was able to escape from maximum-security prisons on two separate occasions is amazing on its own, but when technology is factored into the equation the situation becomes clearer.
According to speculation, Guzman’s organization has been using everything from cellular jammers to wireless signal detectors to evade capture. These types of technologies and gadgets are readily available and can become extremely powerful when used for illicit activity. And while it’s up to law enforcement to prevent criminals from abusing technology, businesses can do their part to protect themselves and ensure they don’t unknowingly become part of a larger criminal plot.
“With the rapid adoption of cloud technologies, criminal gangs can organize and scale their efforts like never before,” said Ted Hulsy, VP of marketing for eFolder, a company that specializes in secure data center infrastructure and cloud services. “They also can leverage technology to wreak havoc on companies, their systems, and their data. A single, highly motivated criminal actor can compromise, encrypt, or destroy massive amounts of data for ransom or financial gain.”
That’s a pretty scary scenario, and one that can be avoided with proper security and networking measures. One of the most important first steps is to choose a cloud services provider that offers high levels of security, privacy and administrative control. Beyond that, organizations need to protect themselves from the inside by building a culture of security that is pervasive for all employees. After all, workers create the most risk and vulnerability for a business by using their own devices (BYOD) and accessing sensitive corporate information through outside networks.
According to Hulsy, proper internal training as well as a company-wide commitment to security can go a long way toward combatting threats and protecting a business. Service providers have even more at stake when it comes to maintaining security compliance, and have an even bigger job when it comes to building a culture of security. Proper personnel training as well as strategic partnerships with vendors and suppliers offering secure solutions are absolutely essential practices, along with enterprise-grade encryption, authentication and administrative control. And that’s where eFolder could help.
“eFolder products and services are designed from the ground up for secure deployment by service providers,” said Hulsy. “[The company] adheres to the highest standards of data security by engineering systems that protect and maintain data, while ensuring its confidentiality.”
Those measures include military-grade encryption, SSAE 16 Type II certified data centers and adherence to a number of additional network transmission and encryption standards—as well as business-grade cloud backup, continuity and file sync services.
Technology is always subject to abuse by criminals, hackers and others with malicious intent. But businesses need not be vulnerable to exploitation and proper security measures, from the premises through to the cloud, can combat fraud and abuse from organizations like El Chapo’s.