4 Effective Ways To Defend Your Business From Data Breaches

Technology is ever-growing and will not slow down with new innovative methods any time soon. With new technologies or stronger technologies surfacing regularly, this becomes a concern for protecting your data from breaches in every new way possible. EY’s Emerging Tech at Work 2023 survey reveals that 89% of employees believe adopting emerging tech benefits their company. Still, cybersecurity risk can be a barrier to adoption. In the same survey, approximately 73% of employees are concerned about the cybersecurity risks associated with generative AI, and 78% worry about quantum computing. Additionally, only one in five executives see their organizations’ cybersecurity measures as effective for today and the future. Forbes Council Member, Steve Gickling and CTO of Calendar – a place for unified calendars and all your scheduling needs – shares an article depicting 4 effective ways you can defend your business from data breaches.

1. Start with clear-cut training. “Combining upskilling and streamlined practices is often a solid approach to addressing the human element. If employees aren’t safeguarding their passwords, there’s probably a best practice they don’t fully understand. Teaching them how to recognize phishing attempts and social engineering tactics is a start, but it’s even better to educate them on why automated password management solutions simplify the use of internal technology and protect the organization.”
2. Shield the cloud. “Organizations rely on cloud service providers for security, but that doesn’t mean those providers are necessarily protecting their clients’ data adequately. Anything from incorrect configurations to insufficient security permissions can leave a company vulnerable to cybercriminals seeking an opportunity. Auditing cloud providers and solutions can sort out who’s responsible for what. Find out what vulnerabilities providers see in their solutions and follow their recommendations on how to close the loopholes. Tech leaders can also consider implementing cloud monitoring and security software, which looks for potential issues. These vulnerabilities might be unauthorized users, a lack of data encryption and/or weak access controls. Monitoring software could also reveal whether data storage isn’t private, increasing its exposure to malicious actors.”
3. Monitor for data leaks. “What if your employees are using the same passwords for both their personal and professional accounts? The leaked information could be from a vendor’s software platform. Cybercriminals are known to try exposed, easy-to-guess and common passwords. They may look at online org charts, hoping to find a match between a leaked personal password and an employee’s account. When implementing a data leak detection solution, workplaces need to find tools that will help them accomplish the best practices for their chosen software. To maximize the software they’ve established, a few key steps are to regularly train employees on using the most current version, constantly monitoring any potential risks and always maintaining secure processes to access the data.”
4. Minimize data retention. “Storing data on your network comes with inherent risks, including the chance it will fall into unwanted hands. By only keeping what’s necessary, you can reduce the probability that sensitive data will become exposed. Enacting data retention procedures should thus be part of your organization’s critical cybersecurity plan. Another aspect to minimize is the locations where information is housed. Streamlining the amount of places the company stores data can reduce vulnerabilities. The fewer places sensitive information is, the less potential there is for exposure. As you condense data storage locations, however, be sure to keep close tabs on what data is being stored and where.”

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