Different Ways To Prevent A Data Breach

There are many ways to protect your company from a data breach. For example, encrypt data-at-rest, limit the point of entry, and train employees. These steps can prevent the violation from becoming an ongoing problem. In addition, creating a response plan and notifying the public should also be part of your data breach prevention strategy. If your company is already aware of the risk of a breach, read on to learn more about different ways to protect your information.

Employee training

The first step in developing employee training to prevent data breaches is understanding the current environment and threats. Knowledge of data collection, storage, and processing platforms is essential for determining the risk level. Additionally, training programs must consider the role of third-party systems, which are often the source of a breach. An interdepartmental team can work together to develop a training curriculum to help employees avoid cybersecurity risks. The team will increase employee awareness of cybersecurity threats by aligning the workforce and setting a common knowledge of security practices.

Training employees is essential for businesses managing proprietary information. They contact proprietary information daily and should be educated on its protection. Employees can also help mitigate a data breach by using strong passwords, selecting cryptic passwords, and regularly changing their passwords. Employee training should be a high priority in an organization’s overall data security strategy. For example, employees should know how to recognize phishing warning messages and understand how to report an incident to the IT team.

Limiting the point of entry

Limiting the point of entry to prevent PII data breaches can help your business protect its customer’s personal information from unauthorized access. PII data is stored in almost every organization, including small, medium, and large. Just one convincing phishing attack by an employee can put the whole organization at risk. To limit the risk of a data breach, you should ensure that every employee has a unique login and password to access company data.

In addition to internal employees, outsiders also have access to enterprise data. Leakage of sensitive information from enterprise systems can cause considerable financial losses and reputational damage. It may also affect the long-term stability of an organization. Common types of leaked information include employee/customer data, intellectual property, and medical records. According to IBM’s 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study, the average consolidated cost of a data breach is $4 million. Juniper Research projects that this figure will reach $2.1 trillion by 2019.

Encrypting data-at-rest

Encrypting data-at-rest (DaR) is a common practice that protects sensitive data from loss or theft. This practice refers to the data stored in the servers of an organization. However, encryption at rest does not guarantee 100% data security. The process may vary depending on the storage device. 

Using at-rest encryption protects data while it is in storage or the cloud. Without encryption, hackers can steal storage devices and read your data. Another form of encryption is encryption-in-transit, which protects data while in transit. While in transit, information is more vulnerable. Encryption services authenticate the sender and receiver to protect this type of data. Once your data arrives at its destination, it can be decrypted and used.

Data-at-rest is classified as arrested when it is not actively used or transferred. It is less vulnerable than data-in-transit but may be more valuable to hackers. Encrypting data-at-rest also helps prevent a data breach. Data-at-rest protection should be implemented as part of data governance and compliance. Organizations must adhere to regulations that govern data security and encryption.

Creating a response plan

Creating a response plan to a security breach is crucial for organizations of all sizes. Not only are the laws governing data breach notification and response times inconsistent, but the impact of the breach is often even more complicated. In addition, organization leaders may be affected by the violation or even the site of the breach, which makes establishing a proper protocol all the more difficult. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to prepare a response plan.

Creating a response plan to a security breach is an excellent way to minimize the stress and uncertainty within your organization. A solid plan outlines the steps to take in case of an attack, such as detection, analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident assessment. This way, you can take immediate action and limit the damage. It will also enable your team to focus their efforts appropriately and act quickly to contain the impact.

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