Data security should always be business’ primary focus to prevent attackers from accessing confidential data. This is due to the fact that the improvements of technology have caused increasing number of data breaches, which can be done by various methods, including malware injection, phishing, and skimming. Failure in preventing such acts will have consequences for enterprises, such as financial and data loss, along with the loss of their reputation among customers.
According to a 2017 research by IBM and Ponemon, hackers and criminal insiders continue to cause most of data breaches (47%), followed by human error (28%), and system glitch (25%). The same study also revealed that the global average cost of a data breach in 2017 was $3.62 million. Based on these facts, you should realize that the need for data security could no longer be ignored. Here are six steps to prevent data breach:
- Learn what type of data that you have and where it is stored. Most businesses opted to store their data on multiple media types, including local disks, disk-based backup systems, offsite on tape and in the cloud. Each of them requires their own type of protection. Thus, it is important to be informed at all times.
- Set security and access policies to minimize the risk of unauthorized access. Access to a particular data should be granted based on the job description of employees. Additionally, there should be an automate log entry to monitor who has accessed a particular data, so you can ensure that the right data is being accessed by the right person, and not the other way around.
- Update your network security devices regularly so that they are capable to combat new threats. These devices include firewalls, antivirus scanning devices, intrusion devices appliances, penetration testing devices and vulnerability assessment appliance, along with unified threat management (UTM) devices.
- Secure your systems and mobile devices with encryption software to avoid malicious actors from gaining access to your devices and systems. Encryption software is used to convert readable information into codes so that no one who is unauthorized can view or access your data without a password.
- Create a data lifecycle management to track your data accurately throughout the information lifecycle. By doing so, it helps you to determine where to apply security controls during the data’s lifecycle, securing your data since its creation to its deletion.
- Educate your employees to minimize the possibility of a data breach due to negligence. A 2017 report by Verizon found that 81% of hacking-related breaches leveraged either stolen and/or weak passwords, while 66% of malware was found in malicious email attachments. Based on these statistics, you should educate your employees on how to make stronger passwords, safely surf the web and inspect malicious emails.
Securing the data of your enterprise is a never-ending process, as new data and new forms of threats are constantly being produced. Choosing the right partner is important to ensure your peace of mind. As a company with fourteen years’ experience, CTI Group has proven themselves for being perfectly capable of protecting your data from breaches and malicious intent from outsiders.
