The advent of the internet has allowed enterprising entrepreneurs to grow businesses with international scope, but this universal platform has also permitted those with ill intentions to victimize individuals and people around the globe.
Hackers bankrolled by criminal outfits have raided companies and governments equally, causing enormous damage to economies and the reputations of people/corporations.
This has done more than any awareness campaign to hammer home the need for robust security on the web.
Before forging ahead with initiatives like people security, though, take time to comprehend the task ahead of you.
In this article, we’ll act as your guide as you go about the task of protecting your data against the malicious threats that exist out in the world today.
What data is worth protecting?
Protecting data is such a gargantuan task, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with its overall scale. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill: begin by highlighting data that online criminals would love to get their hands on.
Customer information which includes bank account/credit card numbers and their contact information should be your top priority.
Employee payroll information, internal financial data, and company trade secrets should also be heavily guarded, as hackers can wreak plenty of havoc with this info.
Protect networks and train staff in proper security protocol
Once you know what needs to be defended, you can then build a system of cyber defenses that will stand tall against even the most robust threats.
All web pages on your domain should have the HTTPS protocol installed, and every form that transmits sensitive data should do so in a heavily encrypted format.
Employees should be compelled to create secure passwords containing between 8-12 characters. They should have a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and random symbols, and changes should be mandated every 30-90 days.
Conduct a complete backup of all systems on a weekly basis. Automated backup programs make this an easy task, so institute it to make this necessary task an easy one. When ransomware hackers strike, you’ll be happy you set up this regimen.
Minimize the chance of a crippling strike by training employees on how to spot a phishing e-mail. If there is any doubt on whether a message is legit, have IT look at it before clicking on any attachments.
Protect yourself from the enemy within
The biggest threat to your data aren’t Russian hackers: it could be the unappreciated worker bee who has been yelled at by their manager one time too many.
Disgruntled, dishonest, or downright sociopathic employees/contractors are responsible for up to 60% of the data breaches that affect businesses and organizations.
All the firewalls and anti-DDoS measures in the world won’t save you from these intrusions, as the leakers have full security clearance, and in most companies, they aren’t caught until the damage has already been done.
People centric security system can defend your network against these threats, as they are able to pick up on signatures of anomalous behavior in real time, alerting those monitoring your network that something suspicious is happening.
