Real hackers are more fearsome than this one.

Okay, okay.  I realize the headline is a bit misleading.  But it isn’t every day that you hear about a data breach at Home Depot in which 56 MILLION credit cards may have been hacked. To put that into perspective, that’s 16 million MORE than the infamous Target breach!

But this is an employment law blog, not a shopping one. So, why does this matter to human resources professionals and companies? Because if hackers can access credit card information, they are going to try to hack into your work files.

It isn’t a matter of “if”. It’s a matter of when they will attempt to do so.

Don’t take my word for it. This comes from the head of the military’s cybersecurity division.  Admiral Mike Rogers has been preaching for months of the need for companies to take data privacy and cybersecurity seriously.  A recent news post reported on the importance Rogers has placed on this area for private businesses.

Corporations must successfully deal with cybersecurity threats, because such threats can have direct impacts on business and reputation, Rogers told the business audience.“You have to consider [cybersecurity threats] every bit as foundational as we do in our ability to maneuver forces as a military construct,” he said.

I have little doubt you’ll hear a lot more about this at an upcoming Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Summit that I’ve been helping to put together here at Shipman & Goodwin, in conduction with CT SHRM.

It’s scheduled to be held on October 16, 2014 from 8a to 2p at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, CT.

The cost is just $75, which includes continental breakfast, coffee, buffet lunch, and the materials.  Full details as well as registration can be found here.

Speakers include myself, Shipman & Goodwin attorneys Scott Cowperthwait, Cathy Intravia and William Roberts as well as industry experts from Adnet Technologies, the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, ESPN, the FBI, FINEX North America, General Electric Company, JPD Forensic Accounting, Quinnipiac University, United Therapeutics Corporation, and United Technologies Corporation (UTC).

Hope to see you there. Register soon as spots have been filling up over the last week.