Wikileaks – What does it Mean for Business?
With the exposure of confidential US government secrets by WikiLeaks by the Australian internet activist Julian Assange has raised important questions around information security. Data is becoming an increasingly abundant commodity in the “Information Age” and therefore businesses have to be careful with how they handle sensitive information. According to one manager of a security firm, many large companies still do not have clear policies about access to information within the company.
Leaks can serve a purpose to the public by promoting freedom of information that is required to stop illegal activities however they also can also destabilize legitimate business operations when important data is shared with the competition. From the WikiLeak controversy, businesses should take this opportunity to establish clear policies on access to information and invest in consistently improving data security systems. However beyond that, keeping employees satisfied and believing in the company can go a long way to preventing defectors. Besides the high retraining costs associated with high employee turnover there can also be problems from information leaks. So maybe you should try and have employees leave on better terms than just a pink slip?
Sources: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/companies-beware-the-next-big-leak-could-be-yours/article1821887/singlepage/#articlecontent
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/assange-threatens-to-release-entire-cache-of-unfiltered-files/article1825922/