In the age of paperless offices, you may think you need to convert all your physical records to electronic data that eventually rests on a variety of offline and online networks. Whether it is on the advice of your technology vendors, or due to newer mandates introduced in federal, state or industry-specific legislations, you may transfer vast amounts of personal, financial and business information onto the cloud. However, it’s important to realize that your cloud storage or on-premise servers are not invincible. The number of instances of data breaches that make daily headlines are proof of the fact that online storage has more than its fair share of security risks. In fact, any kind of digital presence makes you and your business vulnerable to a number of technical glitches, hacks, and cybercrimes. This includes privacy violations, identity theft, loss of sensitive information, or crippling of business operations due to malware and ransomware attacks. 

All Records DON’T Need to Be Online!

At Crown Information Management, we believe that, you may want to pause and reflect on how to store records in physical form, safely and effectively. We understand that some records are required by law to be digitized, like medical records. But…If they are not required by law to be digital, then there are options to outsource your records management to a SOC1, NAID AAA and PCI Certified company. 

There are several studies that indicate physical record storage may be better than creating electronic records. Our information management specialists share excerpts from several reputed studies to help you make an efficient and cost-effective decision for your business.

Numbers Tell the Story—Paper-Based Record Storage May be Better for Your Business

Paper or electronic — stuck in the record storage dilemma? Not sure whether retaining your business information in physical format is a wise option? Here are some facts to consider: 

• Data Breaches are Rampant: No matter how robust your IT security measures; hackers will continue to find newer and more sophisticated methods to access electronic records. As per Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime report, data security breaches have gone up by 11% since 2018, and 67% since 2014. In fact, a study conducted by the University of Maryland suggests that hackers attack computers every 39 seconds, 2244 times a day.

• Breach Identification and Data Recovery are Long-Drawn Processes: IBM’s 2019 Cost of Global Data Breaches study indicates that the average time to identify a breach was 206 days. The average lifecycle of the breach from identification to containment was approximately 314 days. While almost no industry has been left untouched, cybercriminals tend to target financial services and healthcare the most. This is because the records in these businesses fetch greater financial rewards and return on the time invested by cybercriminals. In fact, as per CSO Online, the healthcare industry accounts for 79% of all ransomware attacks, which may quadruple in 2020.

• Data Recovery Costs can Cripple Your Finances: IBM’s study suggests that the global average cost of a data breach is $3.92 million. The average number of records affected in one data breach is 25,575. Sophos’ Global Survey estimates the average cost of one ransomware attack on a business to be $133,000. The worst-hit, financial services industry takes in the highest cost from cybercrimes, at an average of $18.37 million.

• The Primary Source of a Breach may be Internal: In addition to hacks and technical glitches, the biggest threat to your digital records is from internal sources, such as your employees or contractors. Whether it is negligence, human error, or malicious intent, your data is most vulnerable due to overexposure.  A 2019 Global Data Risk report by Varonis shows: 
• On average, every employee has access to approximately 17 million files. 
• 17% of all sensitive files were openly accessible to employees. 
• 15% of the 785 surveyed organizations found more than 1 million folders accessible to every employee.

Do the risks of digital storage outweigh its benefits and conveniences? Data breaches and the subsequent loss of information expose your company to potentially enormous losses and liabilities. This may include damage to reputation and credibility, customer attrition, expensive lawsuits, regulatory fines, and loss of business. In severe cases, it may threaten the very existence of your business.

At Crown Information Management, we help you save time, money and space on physical records storage. Our qualified information management specialists efficiently sort, classify, index, store, and track your physical records for quick, on-time retrieval. In addition to permanent or temporary preservation of documents, we also offer secure destruction of paper records, hard drives,products and other digital media.

For safe and cost-effective storage of physical records, rely on a SOC1, NAID AAA and PCI Certified company, such as Crown Information Management. Call 800-979-9545 to learn more about our services or contact us online to request a free quote.