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Epsilon breach highlights importance of vetting third-party security practices
- TAGS:audit, data breach, Epsilon, Insider Content, outsourcer, outsourcing, security
- IT TOPICS:Cybercrime & Hacking, Privacy, Security
People appear surprised and even upset, that so many banks and other businesses have been happily handing off our personal data to a third-party such as Epsilon, and that too without any notice. It's a bit discomfiting for sure to know that the emails and the marketing messages we thought we were receiving from banks and trusted brands, are in fact coming from a company we didn't even know existed, until last Friday.
The fact though is that such relationships are probably more common than most of us know, or will ever discover, until a breach such as this happens. The bigger question really is, to what extent are companies vetting the third-parties they outsource personal data to?
Epsilon claims over 2500 corporate customers including 7 of the top 10 Fortune 100 companies. The company boasts of having sent a staggering 40 billion emails on behalf of these clients last year.
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