Contrast Security Announces Commitment To Respect Data By Becoming A Data Privacy Week 2022 Champion
This year’s initiative emphasizes educating businesses on data collection best practices that honor data privacy and promote transparency
January 24, 2022 — Los Altos, CA — Contrast Security, the leader in next-gen code security, today announced its commitment to Data Privacy Week by registering as a Champion. Contrast recognizes and supports the principle that all organizations share the responsibility of being conscientious stewards of personal information.
Hosted by the National Cybersecurity Alliance, Data Privacy Week 2022 is taking place this year from January 24 through 28 and is the largest annual coordinated privacy awareness and education campaign in North America. This year, individuals are encouraged to learn more about how to manage and protect their valuable online data. Businesses are also encouraged to respect customer data and learn about the responsibility they hold for keeping individuals’ personal information safe from unauthorized access and ensuring fair, relevant and legitimate data collection and processing.
According to a Pew Research Center study, 79% of U.S. adults report being concerned about the way their data is being used by companies. As technology evolves and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to influence how consumers interact with businesses online, data collection practices are becoming increasingly unavoidable, making it imperative that companies be open and honest about how they collect, use and share consumers’ personal information and communicate their policies clearly and concisely.
Contrast treats all data, including the data of employees, customers, potential customers and vendors, as if it were its own. The company is continually working to ensure it is meeting customer needs, employing best in class practices and always compliant with the ever-evolving privacy regulations and recommendations. This is especially important to Contrast as a global corporation.
“Privacy and security work hand in hand at Contrast. Contrast protects its data the same way the Contrast Code Security Platform protects the security of our customers’ applications and APIs,” said David Lindner, CISO at Contrast Security. “I believe that a company can’t have a successful security program without a strong privacy program and vice versa. As Bruce Schneier of Harvard says, ‘If someone steals your password, you can change it (although not without consequence.) If someone steals your thumbprint, you can’t get a new thumb. The failure modes are very different.’”
Minimal data collection coupled with the principle of least privilege, privacy by design, employee awareness, strengthening protection and ongoing due diligence such as user access reviews and data mapping are key to Contrast’s success.
“It is no secret that it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ a malicious actor will attempt to violate an individual’s or company’s privacy,” said Sharron Reed Gavin, Data Privacy Officer at Contrast Security. “I believe that, in addition to technical controls, privacy and security awareness are the most important defense when it comes to a successful program – from new hire onboarding to annual training, as well as awareness sessions throughout the year. Employees are a company’s greatest asset when it comes to privacy practices; they are the eyes and ears, common sense and practical intelligence of any great company. At Contrast we believe we employ the best of the best and our privacy landscape reflects the same. We believe that the winners in every sector will be the ones that are best at automating their business and implementing the most effective security and privacy defenses. We are extremely proud to be a sponsor of this year’s National Cybersecurity Alliance Data Privacy Week.”
For more information about Data Privacy Week 2022 and how to get involved, visit https://staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week/. The National Cybersecurity Alliance has also offered up the following tips to help guide individuals and businesses to better data privacy practices.
About Contrast Security:
Contrast Security secures the code that global business relies on. It is the industry's most modern and comprehensive Code Security Platform, removing security roadblock inefficiencies and empowering enterprise developers to write and release secure application code faster. Embedding code analysis and attack prevention directly into software with instrumentation, the Contrast platform automatically detects vulnerabilities while developers write code, eliminates false positives, and provides context-specific how-to-fix guidance for easy and fast vulnerability remediation. Doing so enables application and development teams to collaborate more effectively and to innovate faster while accelerating digital transformation initiatives. This is why a growing number of the world's largest private and public sector organizations rely on Contrast to secure their applications in development and extend protection to cloud and on-premise applications in production.
About Data Privacy Week:
Data Privacy Week began as Data Privacy Day in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Data Protection Day commemorates the Jan. 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. NCA, the nation's leading nonprofit, public-private partnership promoting cybersecurity and privacy education and awareness, leads the effort in North America each year. For more information, visit https://staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week/.
About the National Cybersecurity Alliance:
The National Cybersecurity Alliance is a non-profit organization on a mission to create a more secure, interconnected world. We advocate for the safe use of all technology and educate everyone on how best to protect ourselves, our families, and our organizations from cybercrime. We create strong partnerships between governments and corporations to amplify our message and to foster a greater “digital” good. National Cybersecurity Alliance’s core efforts include Cybersecurity Awareness Month (October); Data Privacy Week (Jan. 24 - 28); and CyberSecure My Business™, which offers webinars, web resources and workshops to help businesses be resistant to and resilient from cyberattacks. For more information, please visit https://staysafeonline.org.
