1. The new data breach etiquette you'd better know By David Weldon Comment | Forward | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn In a sobering commentary on the times, a new data breach etiquette has emerged--the expected steps you will take when you become the victim of a significant breach. Notice the use of the word "when" here, not "if." "Breaches and data theft have become the new normal, to the point where a data breach etiquette has developed--a set of best practices that set the pros apart from the flailers," says an article at InfoWorld. An estimated 2,164 data breach incidents, exposing 822 million records, occurred in 2013, the largest number ever says a report by the firm Risk Based Security. The number is expected to increase this year by all accounts. The result is that "there was a time when incidents like this, involving the theft of data from a prominent firm, were capable of shocking the public and sending corporate managers and public relations departments into a tizzy. No longer," the article notes. CIOs are offered a series of nine data breach rules to follow after their organization has suffered a data breach. They range from disclosure, to damage control to technology fixes. Follow them faithfully, and a CIO may survive the ordeal, the article says. As offered up by InfoWorld, the nine rules include the following: No. 1 – Disclose sooner rather than later. "The biggest mistake that organizations make is to sit on evidence of a security incident, only to have word spread by way of a third party." No. 2 – Tell the whole truth. "Say what you know (and what you don't know) and take your lumps." No. 3 – Get your crypto straight. "In the heat of a security incident, the specifics of the technology your company used to secure its data may seem like a small and irrelevant detail, but it's not." No. 4 – Communicate across channels. "Your organization needs a consistent and coherent message to convey, and it needs to communicate it across all available channels: email, blog posts and press releases." No. 5 – Customers come first, Wall Street second. "Companies that seem overly concerned about the impact of an incident on their stock price risk alienating customers who want reassurance that their data is being protected." Read more: - Check out the InfoWorld article Related Articles: Cybercrime takes a slippery $400 billion toll Thousands of credit, debit card numbers stolen from P.F. Chang's for sale [FierceITSecurity] Cybercrime: The costs continue to rise [FierceITSecurity] Read more about: Cybersecurity back to top This week's sponsor is Infinite Convergence. Webinar: Drive Revenue Growth Using the Power of Mobile Messaging Tuesday, June 24th, 12pm ET / 9am PT The use of mobile messaging has become a powerful way for enterprises and brands of all sizes to communicate with their customers. In this webinar Myles Naughton, and John Puma Vice Presidents at Infinite Convergence will share use cases on how businesses harness the ubiquity and power of mobile messaging to drive business strategy.Register Today! Management and Careers 1. LinkedIn latest tech firm to acknowledge diversity challenges By David Weldon Comment | Forward | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn LinkedIn has become the latest tech company to fall under scrutiny for its reported lack of diversity in hiring practices. In a recent article at IT Pro, the firm "posted a demographic of their workforce, proving that there is a real lack of some ethnic groups in big companies." The article notes that LinkedIn's demographics posting comes right on the heels of Google making a similar post. Google quickly drew attention to itself for similar reasons--a definite gender gap and diversity shortage among its workforce. "Although LinkedIn fares better in gender equality than Google (39 percent female compared to Google's 30), the company is dominated by two ethnicity groups: 53 percent of LinkedIn's employees are white and 38 percent Asian," the article notes. Acknowledging that some ethnic groups are underrepresented among the tech giant's workforce, Pat Wadors, vice president of global talent, wrote in the company blog that "In our pursuit to close the gaps, we've initiated programs and developed partnerships that we believe can make a difference." Wadors said the company is undertaking a number of new programs to attract women to its ranks, and to also encourage interest in IT careers at the public school level. "We may not be the first company to be transparent, and we hope we won't be the last," Wadors was quoted as saying. "Our goal is to improve over time and to make a lasting change at LinkedIn. Let's challenge each other to make it a more inclusive world in which we work." Read more: - see the IT Pro article