Cybercriminals hacking companies and breaching their data isn’t exactly breaking news. The past few years have witnessed all kinds of successful hacking attempts against big corporations. The data breaches in these attacks have highlighted significant proof of the compromised data’s value since the data and access to compromised systems often cost millions of dollars to recover.
Statistically speaking, one in every four companies is likely to be hacked and held for ransom. However, the money lost from the attack is not the only danger faced by the victim. The side effects of data breaches in companies include a loss in customer trust, customer loyalty, a damaged brand reputation, and severe cuts in revenue.
The emphasis on security infrastructure is crucial for companies to survive in such a hostile cyber climate and demand efforts to fortify their defenses. However, the following four methods of protecting yourself from data breaches should give you a good idea of what measures need to be taken to ensure safety.
1. Vulnerability Management
It’s essential to identify the existing vulnerabilities in your system so that they can be remediated and resolved before hackers can avail the opportunities and exploit the weaknesses. Sometimes there are security misconfigurations that go unchecked, while at other times, there are malfunctions in the physical hardware.
The use of a decent Vulnerability and Compliance Management (VCM) tool can enable IT’s departments to seek out and identify such vulnerabilities to be later addressed according to priority and resolved as soon as possible. Such preemptive measures can significantly reduce the risks around the company’s cyberspace.
2. Inventory Round
The company’s assets should be listed and accounted for in inventory checks. Each asset is bound by a particular type and level of vulnerability, with endpoints being the places most at risk of being breached. The company can then create an accurate representation of their security infrastructure, categorize assets in terms of risk levels, and then resolve them according to the order of priority.
3. Security Policies and Training of Staff
Despite a robust security infrastructure, it could all be rendered useless if employees make reckless endpoint actions to pave the way for cybercriminals to infiltrate the systems. The protection of company data demands due diligence on behalf of the entire workforce, including whoever has access to the company network.
The company must impose strict policies that regulate system access and ensure the following of the best practices in order to mitigate the risks that endpoint activities entail. Alongside this, regular training sessions should be held to educate the workforce about the importance of following protocol and the consequences of not doing so.
4. Consistent and Regular Auditing
Regular audits of the company’s security outlook will help in maintaining the security posture of the organization. The audit requires a thorough analysis of the organizational setup, protocols, and documentation, such that the same standards are maintained.
Serious questions are raised and addressed in the IT departments about how the information is handled and processed across the company and whether the policies are appropriately integrated, implemented, and enforced at each hierarchy level.
