Snapchat is a photo sharing site based on the premise that your photos delete after being posted.  In January, Snapchat had a data breach resulting in posting of personal information about millions of its users.  Several weeks ago, Snapchat was in the news for releasing celebrity photos to the world (e.g., Jennifer Lawrence).  That issue was either swept up or has not been swept under the rug: it was Apple iCloud's fault.  Fast forward a couple weeks and Snapchat hits the news again last week with leaks of a lot of photos (100,000+?) from its teenage users.

Snapchat blamed third party providers for two of the three breaches, and seemed fairly unapologetic for any of the fiascos.  Snapchat's privacy policy says this about security:

I've read several recent articles debating whether Snapchat is responsible for the breaches.  For example, how did Snapchat not notice that third party services were requesting information?  Why was the encryption used so simplistic?  Etc.  (Sorry, couldn't post applicable pictures to this post, so enjoy the stop sign graphic).

While this debate is interesting, most companies are more interested in reducing the likelihood of occurrence and damage from data breaches.

Practical ways to reduce risk:

1) Know exactly what data you are collecting.

2) Carefully consider whether you need to collect all of that data.

3) Consider how long you actually need to retain each type of data.

4) Set appropriate deletion protocols (required retention periods vary by industry).

5) Limit and understand all data being shared with third parties (and whether you trust those third parties).

6) Adopt and enforce a security policy.

7) Invest in security hardware over fancy coffee or toys for the office.

8) Encrypt data whenever possible.

9) Consider a regular security audit/certification, kind of like a corporate dental visit.

Please take some time in your next planning meeting to think about data security.

~TechAttaché

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