Companies face all types of cyber threats, including phishing, data breach, and ransomware attacks. When an unauthorized person accesses your data, device, application or organization’s network without permission, they can cause significant damage to your company data that could cost you a lot of money. That’s why data protection is among the primary concerns in every organization. Extensive budgets are created yearly for cyber security services, with antivirus software and other robust security policies topping the list. Here are the best practices you can implement to prevent data breaches.
1. Train Your Employees
Training your employees is the first step in keeping the wrong people off your data. Remember, human error is the most common cause of cyber security attacks. Employees can make mistakes unknowingly because they lack basic cyber security knowledge. You want to ensure that everyone knows the importance of protecting company data.
You can hire an expert to teach them about basic IT security to reduce the risk of data theft. Your employees should know how to detect malicious links without opening them. You also want to emphasize the importance of changing passwords regularly. This can easily be implemented by installing a password system that logs out all employees after a specific duration and requests for a new password.
2. Detect and Respond to Intrusions Promptly
Prepare measures to take in case of a data breach and have plans for preventing future attacks. The best way to do this is to allow notifications from your security software that lets you know about updates and potential threats. Most software can detect intrusion as they monitor your system all the time. They can check for suspicious activities and notify you immediately.
They also provide reports on security-related events for easier follow-ups. Event behavioral analytics uses statistical analysis, algorithms and machine learning to determine deviations from established patterns showing all anomalies taking place. For instance, if a user downloads 5 Mbps every day but suddenly downloads gigabytes of files, the system will detect this and let you know immediately.
3. Use Multi Factor Authentication
Cyber criminals heavily rely on passwords to reach your data. Luckily, there’s a way companies can strengthen their login information and prevent unauthorized entry. Two-factor or multi-factor authentication allows you to set an additional step when logging in to your accounts.
In addition to your string password, you can set the system to send a code to your phone number to verify if it’s you accessing the account. You can also set a security question that only you can answer for additional protection. If an attacker gets your password, they need to bypass the code and the security question to access the account, which takes more effort.
4. Implement IP White Listing
The IP white listing looks at the visitor’s IP address and compares it to the list of “allowed” IP addresses before allowing them to access the data. This helps limit and control access to only trusted users. For instance, if you run a company where data is critical, such as a hospital, you can create a list of IP addresses that can access the hospital data. All other IPs will be blocked from the system. You can use this feature in all your network resources, including applications, emails, URLs and more.
5. Implement a Strong Password Policy
Passwords are the main entryways for cyber criminals. You make things easier for them when you set easy passwords, as they will take a short time to crack. While there are better ways of reinforcing security at the entry-level such as multi-factor authentication and passphrases passwords remain an important asset for granting access. As such, you should ensure you have good password policies in place.
If you have employees, it’s important to emphasize the importance of setting strong passwords for their workplace accounts. Strong password policies allow you to force users and employees to select a long password that includes special characters, numerals and alphabets. It also allows you to change passwords as often and educate them to avoid simple passwords that criminals can guess in a brute force attack, such as their date of birth, name or car plate number.
6. Keep Your Software and Operating System Updated
Keeping your operating system and software up to date seals all loopholes cyber criminals can use to penetrate and access important data. Your operating system wears with age and becomes vulnerable to attack. That’s because criminals are always updating their own systems to match the current updated ones. You may want to stay ahead by updating your operating system and software. You can also set the system to auto-update themselves whenever a newer version is available or notify you once it’s available.
7. Get Managed IT Services
It’s not easy to keep up with all the security measures and business goals at the same time. That’s why you should consider outsourcing your IT services to professionals who understand the ins and outs of securing your data. IT service providers monitor your systems aggressively, resolving IT issues and keeping your systems secure.
They’re aware of the latest technology to use to keep the bad guys away and all IT security that can benefit your business more. Overall, they allow you to focus on your business goals with the peace of mind that your data is safe.
