28 January marks international Data Privacy Day, encouraging everyone to make protecting privacy and data a greater priority.
The day is an effort to empower and educate people to protect their privacy and control their digital footprint.
But Mark O’Neill, vice president of innovation, Axway, believes more could be done.
"Unfortunately all too often businesses are closing the barn door after the horse has bolted when it comes to data security; often waiting for something to go wrong before addressing any chinks in the armour of their security strategy," he said.
His thoughts echo the vice president of the European commission, Viviane Reding, after she called for much bigger fines when companies breach data protection laws.
"The onus is firmly on organisations to ensure that each device is properly secured, whether it’s being accessed inside or outside the office. Our increasingly connected world has meant that each new device is a potential window of opportunity for hackers. This has been made all the more challenging by the number of employees bringing their own devices into the work place," added O’Neill.
"On Data Privacy Day, businesses need to take stock and ensure they have a much more granular approach to security. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) now form the foundation of any app development. With a cohesive API management strategy in place, businesses will be in full control of their data."
