While the Internet plays an instrumental role in bringing the world together, it simultaneously has contributed to bringing business and security breaches together.
Data breaches have been grabbing headlines over the past few years. From Adobe and Yahoo to LinkedIn and eBay, almost every company has faced the issue of exposed data.
High-profile incidents of data leakage remind us that data security should be a top priority for modern businesses.
Researchers suggest that almost 30% of businesses that experienced a data loss end up losing revenue.
A non-functional website, for instance, may lead your potential clients to look for other alternatives.
In general, any IT system downtime can lead to work disruptions. The aftermath of a breach includes customer loyalty drop, distrust, monetary losses, and an unsavory brand reputation.
What is a Data Breach?
A data breach is an incident that exposes sensitive information either intentionally or unintentionally.
Leaked information can be accessed, stolen, and used by a cybercriminal without authorization to a trusted environment.
While most data breaches are associated with hacking or malware attacks, other methods include insider leaks, data loss, or human error.
This is a no-joke huge security concern since sensitive data is constantly being sent over the Internet.
Here’s what you can do to keep yourself (and your nudes) safe.
How to Prevent Data Breaches
1. Train employees on cybersecurity: Fighting ignorance is one of the best preventive measures. Employees can become your strongest line of defense or your weakest link. Therefore, timely cybersecurity masterclasses can save your company from a low blow.
Education on data breaches can help your employees understand how to create strong passwords and how to identify, steer clear of, or report any suspicious activity. If your people follow proper security practices, you can mitigate your risks.
2. Get hold of your data and classify it: It is impossible to do risk audits if you don’t know what data you store, use, and back up. Since not all data is equally sensitive it is important to rank it according to its level of importance.
A nice data classification allows your organization to implement proper controls based on that predefined category. Data classification also saves you some time and money along the way by avoiding unnecessary controls.
3. Encrypting data at every stage: Encryption is a buzzword that gets lots of attention for a reason. It is one of the most effective ways of keeping your data safe and confidential as it is transmitted over the internet.
Each time you send sensitive information across the internet, be it credit card details, passwords, or personal contact details, encryption stops others from seeing it.
But if you want to keep your data safe and avoid breaches, you have to seriously address your data encryption both at rest and in movement.
4. Separate your business and personal accounts: Creating separate business and personal accounts is a common practice for unlocking tax benefits. However, this method can be effective in breach-prevention as well.
If someone gets unauthorized access to your personal email or a site, they cannot hack your business account. Keep an eye on what you allow to be added or attached to your computers, and don't forget to encrypt, encrypt, encrypt.
The Bottom Line
Today, a data breach has become a bogeyman in the business world. Thousands of companies have lost money, time, customers customers, and sales in a fight with data hackers.
Therefore, it's vital to take a proactive, ongoing approach to implement counter-measures before someone or something compromises your systems, data, and reputation.