6 Ways To Avoid A Data Breach

What are the ways to avoid a data breach?

1. Always include security
2. Be careful around third-party users
3. Create secure passwords
4. Develop a response plan
5. Train your staff
6. Access Control

A company’s sensitive information must be kept secure, but it’s only as safe as how effective your security is. You would expect everyone to be extra mindful of their valued data, but data breaches still happen. You would still hear of data breaches happening, despite the many ways to avoid a data breach. Whether it’s because of outdated software, a malicious insider, or another reason for the breach, it’s always best to take all precautions against this incident.

To keep your data and assets safe, you must exercise caution every step of the way. We’ve compiled some tips on how to avoid a data breach to help you. If you want to learn more, keep reading!

Always Include Security

The easiest way to lose everything to malicious attackers is to be careless and forget security. Knowing the importance of security means you’ll always include it in every endeavor. If you’re a starting company, include security in all your plans. This step is especially important for businesses that, by nature, collect sensitive information from their customers. Your personal data, your customer’s data, passwords, credit card numbers — all of these must be safe and secure.

Established companies sometimes begin to take this tip for granted. That leads to bad data breaches. Take, for example, how a well-known and well-established company some years ago, had a massive data breach in 2013 when they were being acquired by a potential telecommunications partner. During the process, the account information of over 3 billion people was compromised. If they were more careful and included better security during the process, maybe the data breach could have been prevented.

Be Careful Around Third-Party Users

In addition to including security in all plans, you must be wary of third-party users. This includes possible customers availing of your service. Although the more likely possibility is that customers simply want your services, you must still be ready in case a malicious attacker is posing as a customer. You should beware of any time someone outside your company, or even someone not completely authorized accesses your files or computers.

Create Secure Passwords

This should already be basic: make sure your passwords are secure and difficult to guess or hack. When you’re coming up with a password to protect valuable company information, don’t use “password” or “12345”. Be creative and include all different character types in your passwords. You may also use precautions such as two-factor authentication and captchas (which also protect you from brute force attacks).

As for your users’ passwords, they must be secured somewhere that’s properly encrypted. It should go without saying, but if your business requires your users to create an account, not even you should know what the passwords are.

Develop a Response Plan

Many companies out there have no sound response plan in case of a large-scale data breach. That’s why so many data breaches are poorly handled and take a long time before going public. The previously mentioned data breach happened in 2013, but a separate breach happened to the same company in 2014. This breach compromised data from 500 million accounts. Yet, both attacks were not revealed to the public until 2 years later.

In case a data breach happens to your company despite all your safety precautions, it would benefit you to have a response plan ready. It should first find out what and how much was lost and/or compromised.

From there, you can do damage control while figuring out how the breach happened. Having a proper response plan in place will also assure both your employees and your customers or clients that their data is in good hands.

Train Your Staff

One way that malicious attackers can get through your security is through incompetent staff. A clueless staff member is susceptible to manipulation, especially if the attacker is good at what they’re doing.

An untrained staff member may also release sensitive information accidentally. By training your staff to be proficient in your security systems and technology in general, your chances of a data breach lower significantly.

Access Control

Limiting access to valuable assets is a good way to avoid a data breach. Don’t let just anyone have access to files, folders, or software that could potentially leak your information. You can do this by changing the authorization levels of different users.

Much like passwords and security systems, your most secure areas are only as secure as how trustworthy people with access are. Boosting your cybersecurity also includes upgrading physical security. After all, data breaches can still happen if someone has access to the physical rooms where interfaces or servers are located.

Thankfully, some integrated security management solutions can handle both. ELID’s Matrix V has advanced, state-of-the-art technology designed to keep your information safe. With its access control and intrusion alarm systems, your physical building is also safe from intruders.

Key Takeaway

With the ways to avoid a data breach, your company should be safe from getting a bad security breach like what happened with Yahoo. Try to follow the tips listed here, and you will be preventing losses for your company already.

If you’re concerned about security, ELID creates the most reliable and advanced systems in Asia. We boast high-quality solutions that would definitely fit any company’s needs. If you’re interested, you can view our products here, or contact us for any inquiries.