Improving Customer Data Security Of A Company

Fitbit, Inc. is a private start-up company specializing in consumer electronics related to the health and fitness industry. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California and was founded in 2007. The Co-founders and managers are James Park and Eric Friedman. Fitbit, Inc. manufactures and markets products which track people’s fitness activities, routines, nutrition and sleep. The founders believe that Fitbit products will help transform people’s lives with these wearable devices that can help people monitor and be inspired to increase their daily routines. According to Fitbit.com, “Eric and James embarked on a journey to create a wearable product that would change the way we move and

Protecting customer information is extremely important in today’s data intensive businesses. Adding an additional dimension is having the US Government as a primary customer. The company I will be focused on is small startup company- Mountain Horse Solutions(MHS), the company has won two prime contracting positions with the US Department of Defense (DOD). Adding to the data protection burden the US Government recently passed new regulations requiring all contracts to increase their cyber defense posture. MHS is currently in the rapid growth phase and are working to develop out IT policies and structure. Currently the company handles information provided by the US Government that is supply chain sensitive and the company is working to create policies and procedures with the intent of handling more classified information.

At the heart of every Fitbit is an accelerometer that measures a plethora of factors while exercising and even sleeping, depending on the device. They also all contain some form of a vibration motor that acts as an alert mechanism. All bands come in two sizes: small and large to cater to the variety of wrist sizes people have. Fitbit wristbands are composed of a synthetic polymer substance that is soft enough to rub against skin without harming it, yet strong enough to endure a fair amount of force and strain without breaking. Certain premium Fitbits have sections that are made with surgical-grade stainless steel. Fitbit product has been around for a number of years, but the market is just now warming up to the idea of fitness tracking devices. Consumers care more now than ever before about being healthy and that has led to huge spikes in earnings for Fitbit.

Moreover, now days using information system is not as walking as in the park, it has many new security treats that the company might lose their confidential data, financial and personal information.

While all of these technologies have enabled exciting changes and opportunities for businesses, they have also created a unique set of challenges for business managers. Chief among all concerns about technology is the issue of information security. It seems to be almost a weekly occurrence to see a news article about yet another breach of security and loss of sensitive data. Many people will remember high profile data breaches from companies such as T.J Maxx, Boston Market, Sports Authority, and OfficeMax. In the case of T.J. Maxx, a data breach resulted in the loss of more than 45 million credit and debit card numbers. In many of these incidents, the root cause is a lack of adequate security practices within the company. The same technologies that enable managers can also be used against them. Because of this, businesses must take appropriate steps to ensure their data remains secure and their communications remain

Fresh of the IPO diving block, Fitbit Inc. shares have since soared, more than doubling in price at its peak. The company pioneers an industry of wearable technology, being one of the first to develop and manufacture wearable, fitness trackers. Their products allow users to monitor basic health statistics, such as calories burned and distance walked. Their products also track some unique metrics, such as active minutes and stairs climbed. Fitbit also manufactures the Fitbit Surge, a more complex fitness tracker, but with added abilities comparable to smartwatches. Furthermore, Fitbit offers a premium, subscription based service that allows users to enhance their experience with more insight and analysis on the data collected by the trackers.

FitBit is a wireless health and sleep tracker. The company’s goal is to provide a unique product, rich features at a highly competitive price. Target segmentation includes athletes, students, professionals and other groups in Australia. The product will be distributed to most of the electronic specialty stores and online. The tiny device will help people taking advantage of their

This report presents a compilation of an analysis and evaluation of Fitbit Inc., its current market positioning, some of the company’s challenges, and a strategic plan developed by the Ebi Team. The interpretation and analysis are based upon facts and figures retrieved from Fitbit company and industry trends. The report provides a description of the company and includes its introduction, a history covering major events and the key facts related to the company.

In seven years, they have managed to create a brand name for themselves and gain more market share yearly without using conventional marketing techniques that their big competitors practice. Fitbit actively decided to expand into the global market after they have secured their market share in the United States by using a combination of strategies. Some of their strategies include wide range of product offerings, smart pricing strategies, collaboration with other organizations and unique marketing strategies. These strategic decisions can be directly attributed to Fitbits success to grow as a company and establish a vivid brand

The massive security breach at TJX companies in 2005 has become a lesson in proper security in retail stores across the world. This breach that led to the loss of personal information on millions of customers is a direct result of inadequate security safeguards. Managing risk over critical information can always be tricky, but it is important to integrate security standards and privacy requirements across each company. TJX companies certainly put their customers information at risk by relying on weak encryption technology to protect this information. With the proper security measures, this record breaking data breach could have been avoided.

New technologies are changing the healthcare by incorporating into the existing infrastructure. Paper-based patient records are converting to electronic format, from this patients can get an access to their record. Even by placing a specialized sensor in patients home make monitoring patient much more feasible. Overall this technology makes an improvement on the quality of healthcare. Which also reduce medical errors and healthcare cost. While there are so many advantages of the technology, related privacy and security matters need to be evaluated to make these systems generally acceptable. How an organization protects and gather data is data privacy. Which is basically more about what information is collected and how it is using and transferring. When it comes to healthcare, it becomes much more challenging. Healthcare data such as electronic medical records, medical imaging and healthcare system protecting the privacy of patients’ personal data and securing the IT infrastructure become challenging. Accessing patients’ data is one of the major security threat for the healthcare organizations. Emerging trends of healthcare privacy and security, heightened enforcement and increased forfeits have increased to address the security risk. According to ITRC Breach Report by the Identity Theft Resource Center, in the first three months of 2013 alone,

Improving customer data security became a critical topic for Fitbits Inc. soon after. As we all know, Fitbit Inc. provides service to analyze consumer’s activity data that means Fitbit Inc. was relying on customer data. To give consumer confidence with their data security and make them willing to upload their personal information to Fitbit Inc. is essential to keep company success that the company must take action immediately. There are three suggestions I would like to introduce to Fitbits Inc. that can help enhance company’s data privacy, establish a company internal comprehensive security platform, join some institute that can share threat data between companies and using professional cyber security product. (Friedman,

Another way to make sure that all employees know the latest data security measures is to test them on such measures. A custom test can be created for each staff member to complete, proving their awareness and understanding of the existing security policies. Randomizing the test dates helps to prevent complacency in studying security standards.

Besides the data security services offered by these three companies as presented above, it’s also very important that companies take individual responsibility to establish good business data protection policy measures. Peter Rob, C. C. (2011.) elaborates that when systems are put into place, as well as procedures and policies then this can help reduce the chance of a data protection breach. It is in the best interest of an organization to ensure that sensitive data is best protected. Data should be Stored securely Peter Rob, C. C. (2011.). Another very important aspect that every company should have in place is to Control user access levels so that only authorized people are allowed to access particular data at a given time. Peter Rob, C. C. (2011.) further elaborates that data should not be released to the wrong people. For example, it is of much importance to run a security check before

Fitbit uses its product as a positioning strategy. The products possess unique primary values that distinguish it from its competitors. The devices cover diverse functions that can also be found in smartphones. The trackers work in association with Android mobile apps that enable the user to record and monitor their progress. Fitbit has added an aspect of fashion to its products where the user can insert in their accessories depending on their clothes