The growing list of successfully hacked organizations in recent years has increased the focus on data breach protection. Companies have realized that it takes unrelenting efforts to keep up with the menacing threats of cybercriminals
The need for cybersecurity services has skyrocketed more than ever, and for good reasons — everyone would agree. After all, a successful data breach cost US companies an average of $8.19 in 2019, while April 2021’s Facebook breach cost an estimated $3.7 billion.
Apparently, you can’t leave the safety of your firm to third-party firms anymore. These days, security has to involve you and your employees too actively. For this purpose, the subsequent paragraphs highlight five proven strategies to adopt to be sure your company will thwart any form of ransomware that hackers attempt.
Table of Contents
Five Strategies to Avoid a Data Breach in your Organization
1. Educate your Employees
Employee’s awareness of cybersecurity makes or mars a business’ efforts against cyber attacks. So, ignorant workers may be the bane of your company’s security. Moreso in a time when the availability of tools, such as cloud storage, BYOD trends, and IoT devices, has made the compromise of sensitive data incredibly easy.
The first step towards cybersecurity is efficient training for employees. After this training, employees have to know the essence of data security, the implications of a breach. The technical know-how to sniff out and eliminate threats, and that their reports on potential attacks will be taken seriously. Their lessons must focus on the cybersecurity risks specific to your company and industry — cite real-life examples of breaches and reportable incidents.
To improve cyber privacy, sensitive data is to be shared only on a “need-to-know” basis. In addition, employees must assume full responsibility and accountability when surfing the business network. Lastly, update staff security policies regularly to tackle the increasingly savvy nature of cybercriminals.
2. Invest in the Appropriate Cybersecurity Resources
You must pay keen attention to cybersecurity in every instance you use, share, or store sensitive information. It’s traditional for companies to have perimeter and network security, such as intrusion detection, firewalls, and antivirus systems, but you need more. Your security experts have to adopt a dynamic approach that identifies and monitors threats and responds to safety risks.
Invest in Data Loss Prevention solutions, like Endpoint Protector, to fortify your data protection systems. It prevent data breaches more efficiently, and implement policies that disallow wrongful access to sensitive data. With this system, you may also limit clients from sharing confidential data and regulate or block devices on the network. DLP solutions are a must-have for small-, medium-, and large-scale enterprises in this era of devastating cybersecurity attacks.
3. Obey Data Protection Laws
Data protection policies are an indication that organizations are liable for how they regulate and protect data in their control. If your company protects content according to data breach protection regulations, you’ll have an improved chance of avoiding hacks and, importantly, staying out of lawsuits and reputational blemishes. To enforce compliance, you have to adopt a security law that assures data safety from threats both within and outside the company.
Consumer privacy has become more prominent since 2018 due to the rigorous regulations that most countries have implemented globally. Some laws concern specific territories, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), while others, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) are industry-specific.
In addition, several countries have fixed laws requiring both public and private organizations to notify customers of data breaches to punish erring entities.
4. Conduct Periodic Vulnerability Tests
A vulnerability test is the evaluation of standard security protocols to determine if they are still effective for the purpose for which they were erected. This process aims to identify, categorize, and order security risks and figure out the dangers they lose to the organization despite the existing security measures.
The 2021 January to March cyberattack on Microsoft Exchange is a clear example of why regular security assessments are crucial. In a breach spanning nearly three months, hackers exploited four zero-day vulnerabilities found in the Microsoft server to steal data from over 250,000 organizations worldwide, over 30,000 US companies, and about 67 Government agencies. We are yet to understand the extent to which this attack will affect the world.
Periodic audits assist in having a clear image of company data and how it can be protected. When conducting a susceptibility test, you have to address every data-related concern, including data storage, BYOD strategy, remote employee access, and existing policies and procedures.
Regular Vulnerability Management sits third on the Center for Internet Security’s (CIS) list of twenty critical security practices. In addition, sniffing out weaknesses continuously and determining their remediation help to meet data protection regulations.
5. Have a Flexible Data Breach Response Strategy
Sometimes, your data breach security procedures are never enough to prevent a data breach. And in times like such, it’d be incredibly helpful to have a protocol in place for responding to the incident. You’ll have to combine proactivity with reactivity.
Data breach protection is never a complete framework without a strategy for reacting to ruptures. Having this system helps you manage cybersecurity events better, limit ensuing damages, and restore employee and public confidence. Outline the roles and responsibilities of professionals tasked with breach management, and consult your cybersecurity firm for a comprehensive solution.
Data breach regulations also emphasize the relevance of a response plan. For instance, organizations under GDPR have to respond to cyberattacks within 72 hours of detection. The barest requirements of a breach response system include collecting relevant data, reporting the event to necessary authorities, and informing affected persons.
Conclusion
Technology is a two-sided blade: it continues to assist companies while increasing the weapons available to cybercriminals simultaneously. Cybersecurity has to receive more attention to limit the possibility of appearing on the seemingly unstoppable list of ransomware victims.
Meanwhile, you may read this report: “Experian Data Breach What Happened” by Triadanet to fully understand the consequences of a successful data breach attempt.
