The personal data of employees and customers is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity. In this digital age, hackers from other businesses and even foreign governments can try to access this data and then use it for their own purposes. Often, these purposes are criminal, nefarious or, at best, not in the best interest of the victim whose data is misappropriated.
Businesses have an obligation to protect the private information of those individuals with whom they deal, including their own employees. If they fail to do so, then the business can face litigation as well as an enforcement action at the hands of state or federal regulators.
Citrix, a company that provides software which allows workers remote access to their company’s networks, recently found itself the target of a lawsuit at the hands of at least two former employees. Citrix recently confirmed that, over the course of about six months, international hackers affiliated with a foreign government accessed the data of the Citrix employees by hacking through the company’s electronic systems.
One woman claimed that she had filed police reports and paid for a system to monitor unauthorized activity on her credit report. The other employee said he has also had to devote time and resources to protecting his identify after the Citrix breach exposed his personal information.
If anything, this story illustrates that, as part of their overall business law and regulatory compliance strategies, Nevada businesses of all sizes need to pay more attention to cybersecurity and data protection. Detailed laws and regulations are often in play in these situations, which is why the advice of an experienced corporate attorney can be invaluable.
