Data protection is a constant struggle for many companies, and recently the vulnerability of even the largest companies has been in the spotlight. In the last year Facebook, Yahoo, Equifax, Under Armour, the US Department of Defence, and several other companies have all had network and data breaches.
In Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s statement following the Cambridge Analytica scandal that exposed the personal data of 87 million people, he highlighted the need to improve security on the platform. However several months later there was another data breach involving 50 million accounts, showcasing how challenging data protection really is.
Despite how difficult it can be to completely secure your data, there are five tips that you can use to limit the risk of data breaches and prevent data loss in your company:
- Consistently backup data so that in the event any data is compromised and altered or deleted it can be restored. While this may not prevent a data breach, it having a verified backup can significantly reduce the time it takes to recover and restore the data. Visit sites like venyu.com/cybersecurity/ to know how you can back up your data.
- Find ways to make the data visible so that you know where it is at any given point in time. In particular, you should be aware of access points where new data may be inserted, or if data is being transferred to an external device or platform. By having a more complete picture of your company’s data, it will be easier to identify any issues or risks.
- Monitor user activity for any suspicious actions. The data loss in many companies over the years has stemmed from accidental sharing or intentional data breaches that could have been prevented if user activity was monitored more closely for warning signs. Nowadays there are different types of software that can be used for that such as data governance tools, and one that you could look at is WorkExaminer (https://www.workexaminer.com/).
- Analyze user behavior for any potential risks and take steps to rectify it. With the data from user activity monitoring software such as WorkExaminer, it is possible to identify potential risks such as users downloading files from unverified sources, opening unidentified email attachments, and more.
- Block and filter any unwanted sites to increase security and reduce the risk of data loss. Typically monitoring software will enable you to filter out unwanted sites, and WorkExaminer specifically will let you block apps that you don’t want to be able to run as well.
As you can see the features in WorkExaminer are integral to preventing data loss, and can significantly reduce the risk of a data breach ever happening in the first place. Considering the number of data breaches that are caused by insider threats it makes sense to increase security in that particular area.
Suffice to say WorkExaminer is the perfect security solution for any company that wants to more actively protect their data. Its ability to track and monitor users will provide you with invaluable data so that you can isolate and act on risks before they cause permanent data loss.
