Top 10 Jaw-Dropping Records Management Statistics of 2018

It’s hard to overstate just how seismic a year 2018 was for consumer privacy. The European Union passed its GDPR regulations, making sure companies give consumers a choice in how their data is collected and stored, and California passed a similar consumer privacy act. All this action took place against a backdrop of nightmarishly large data breaches. But it’s not all bad: Take these ten lessons to heart, and you can avoid HIPAA violation fines and ransomware attacks, and help the environment, too.

$25 million in fines

GDPR violation fines can run you $25 million if your violation is severe enough. The EU’s new privacy regulations affect just about every business with a website. On the plus side, if your business is in California, you’ve got a head start on complying with these regulations.

4.4 million medical records

In Q3 of 2018 alone, 4.4 million medical records were breached. That’s a whole lot of HIPAA violations, which can result in a $50,000 fine per violation. That’s just the fiscal cost. As one Springfield, MA gynecologist found in April of this year, HIPAA violations can also come with criminal penalties, including jail time. Enforcement of HIPAA is not slowing down, so taking precautions like off-site records storage is crucial to protecting your records and your business.

184 million devices

According to a Statista study published in 2018, 184 million devices around the world were hit by ransomware in 2017. This vicious type of attack has affected hospitals, multibillion-dollar shipping companies, and will probably impact your business at some point. A ransomware attack doesn’t have to mean the end of the world, though—if you have the right protections in place.

$1.1 trillion annually

Regular, old-school style espionage is still in vogue. In fact, the practice costs companies more than a trillion dollars every year. Spies can pose as regular employees, or interns, swiping secrets off paper-stacked desks or unattended laptops—which is why you need a clean desk policy.

$5,600 per minute

Every minute you’re offline during a ransomware attack can lose your business $5,600. Yes, really. If you aren’t regularly backing up your data in at least two storage mediums, you’re at risk for racking up masses of lost revenue in the event of an attack.

100% of devices

At the end of 2017, the twin vulnerabilities of Spectre and Meltdown were revealed. Combined, these flaws that allow hackers easy access to your systems exist in every device with a chip, including mobile devices and servers. Though computers with Intel chips are most likely to be exploited. Patching efforts are ongoing, but it’s best to keep your security teams on high alert.

76,500 trees saved

This is a bit of a brag, but we couldn’t resist. Thanks to our green initiatives, Corodata clients saved 76,500 trees—as well as 31 million gallons of water and 450,000 cubic yards of landfill space! Going green doesn’t have to be an expensive, arduous process. Something as simple as hosting a shred day can go a long way.

5 minutes per page

Scanning, tagging, and filing a single page of records can take five minutes. Not “per record.” Per page! For companies with huge piles of paper records, the cost of digitizing can be in the millions, when you factor in all the time and labor it takes. If you’re thinking of going completely paperless, make sure you have an exceptional reason.

88% of customers lost

Companies that have suffered a privacy breach lose a whopping 88% of their customers. And 75% of those that stay will consider leaving. That’s a lot of lost business…and a lot of trust to regain. It’s not impossible to rebuild that kind of trust, but it’s a long road that requires a lot of resources.

58% of total breaches

Businesses with fewer than 100 employees account for 58% of breaches. Why? They offer easier targets because they often don’t have as many resources to spend on security as larger businesses do. But beefing up your security can involve measures as simple as reading about how other companies have been breached.