Tips to Improve Data Security
Cybercrime is one of the biggest threats facing businesses today. In this modern world of digital technology and always-online devices, with so much data stored digitally and so much business done over the internet, the risks of letting that data fall into the wrong hands or having your network brought down by the likes of malware and DDoS attacks simply cannot be underestimated.
For these reasons and many more, modern businesses have to make data security a priority, doing all they can to keep their files safe, both for their own benefit and for the benefit and protection of their customers and clients. Here are some key tips to keep in mind whenever your business wants to enhance its cybersecurity.
Put Your Security to the Test
Many companies make the mistake of assuming that their security levels are adequate, but how can you really be sure how strong your security is? Often, you won’t know whether or not you have sufficient protection until an attack is already underway, and at that point, it’ll be too late to make any changes or bolster your defenses.
Fortunately, there are ways you can put your security to the test. Various data security assessment services exist that will actually carry out non-invasive penetration tests of your existing DNS servers and provide you with full reports on whether or not the penetration and exfiltration processes were successful. This can help you find potential holes in your system and identify areas to improve.
Don’t Forget About Insider Threats
Too often, companies or organizations focus purely on outside threats, assuming that any dangers to their business will come from some outside agent or hacker trying to break through the exterior defenses, but the truth is that a lot of attacks can actually take place on the inside, and these attacks may also be the most devastating too.
Insider attacks can be difficult to predict or prevent, but there are ways around them. Some methods you can try involve holding regular cybersecurity refreshers for staff to teach them about the importance of staying safe and how to spot phishing attempts or cybersecurity threats, as well as developing a level or tier-system that limits access to certain data based on employee rank or position.
Clean Up Your Data
It doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re running or what industry you’re a part of, it’s highly likely that you have to handle a lot of sensitive data over the course of a single working day or week. This might include addresses and contact details of your clients or important business files relevant to your company’s products or services.
Over time, this data can build up in a big way, and it’s important to save and store the files you need, but remember to clean up and delete unnecessary or outdated files on a regular basis too. Keeping your data organized is a great part of the overall strategy to keep it safe, and having lots of redundant data lying around will only put your business at further risk.
Cover the Basics
As well as investing in high-grade data security software and systems and bringing in high-end security experts to upgrade your cyber defenses, it’s wise to not overlook the importance of the basics and the little things. You can have the strongest cybersecurity suite in the world, but if just one employee falls victim to a phishing scam or gives their password away, your whole network could be compromised.
This is why the basics are so important, which means making sure that employees are trained in the essentials of cybersecurity, knowing how to make strong passwords, understanding that they shouldn’t click on any suspicious links, learning about the importance of staying safe and not trying to access company files and data while using unsecured Wi-Fi in public places like airports, and so on.
Make Backups
One of the best aspects of digital data is that it’s easy to replicate, and you should take advantage of this to ensure that you always have copies of your most important files. This way, even if something does accidentally get deleted or a server does go down, you’ll still have access to your necessary files.
The best practice here is to make sure that your backups are stored securely and separately to your regular files. This way, even if your main servers or network get attacked, you’ll still be able to turn to the backups.
Final Word
Improving data security is never a bad idea for any business, and following these tips will put your company on the right path to stronger cybersecurity.
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