In this digital age, the leakage of data is one of the main
issues that any size organization faces. A single breach could compromise your
customer's sensitive information, damage your company's reputation, and lead to
a great financial loss. Preventing data leaks requires a proactive approach and
a well-thought-out strategy. In this article, we will explore six practical
tips to help protect your business and ensure that your data remains secure.
Lock All Entry Points with Strong Authentication
Locking down all the entry points to your network is one of
the best means of preventing data leakage. Making multi-factor authentication a
necessity when trying to access sensitive systems by any user should be done.
More than a password, MFA adds extra security even before getting access to
critical information. For example, in addition to entering a password, users
might also have to enter a number sent to their mobile phone or submit to
biometric verification, such as using a fingerprint. That way, you will have
significantly reduced the risk of data leaks by making it more difficult for
unauthorized users to access your systems.
Control Access to Sensitive Data
Not everyone at your company needs access to all company
data. With access control based on the principle of least privilege, you can
minimize the risk of data leaks. Implement RBAC to give the employee the rights
that are only essential to his job and no more so that there are minimized
chances of exposure or intentional misuse of sensitive data. In some cases, the
salespeople can view customers' contact details but not the financial reports.
With this segregation of access and then keeping the sensitive information
inaccessible, you reduce the number of people who can leak it.
Track and Audit Data Access
Data leakage prevention should also include monitoring and
auditing data usage regularly. Pay attention to who is accessing the sensitive
information, when they are accessing it, and what they are doing with it.
Implement activity-tracking tools that will report on access to data. Such
tools will bring suspicious behavior to your attention before long. For
instance, when the employee starts downloading lots of data without a business
justification, you can trace his activities even before they are bad enough to
come back and hurt. Proactive monitoring allows your team to take immediate
action against unusual activity, possibly indicating possible leakage of data.
Employee Education on Security Best Practices
Employees are always the weakest link in a company's line of
defense. There is hence the importance of employee training so they understand
security best practices. Educate your employees regarding the importance of
hygiene in password handling and the dangers of phishing emails, as well as
proper information handling moments. Instill a security culture where employees
are motivated to report any untrusted activity or suspected vulnerabilities.
You can even perform regular simulations or run your own internal
"hack" tests in order to ensure your employees are prepared for real
attacks.
Opt for Threat Response Solutions
Even with the best precautions against it, data leaks might
happen. It is, therefore, important to have threat response solutions that could quickly identify and address a breach to
minimize the blow to your business. Most of the modern solutions for threat
response usually include automated detection capabilities that can identify
real-time threats in terms of potential data leaks. Features of such solutions
also help to assist with incident management and guide your team step by step
on what needs to be done to contain the breach and protect other sensitive data
from leaking out. All these go a long way in reducing the damage inflicted by a
data leak and ensuring speedy recovery.
Encrypt Data Both In-Transit and At-Rest
In a breach, the best way to prevent your data from leaking
is through encryption. It's either encrypting your data when you transfer it
over the internet or when you've already stored it on a device. This way, even
if hackers manage to get a hold of your data, they won't be able to read it
because it would be only readable with the decryption key. Use strong
encryption protocols like AES-256
and ensure all sensitive data in transit and at rest is protected by it. Data
encryption and other things add another layer to protect your data, which can
significantly reduce the chance of a data leak.
Conclusion
Data leakage prevention needs a multi-layered approach.
Secure access points; govern access controls to sensitive information, track
information usage in data; educate employees; implement best-of-breed threat
response solutions; encrypt your data and you are likely to greatly reduce the
chance of a breach. Data security is a constant process; thus, it becomes
imperative to regularly review and upgrade your processes to stay ahead of
evolving threats. Taking these preventive measures may prevent your business
from suffering the monetary and reputational fallout of a data leak and ensure
that your confidential information stays off-limits.
