Data Breaches and How to Protect Yourself
A data breach exposes confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person where the files in a data breach are viewed and/or shared without permission.
Most often, data breaches occur due to weaknesses in technology or user behavior due to lack of encryption, minimal security testing and poor digital habits. Without comprehensive security at both the user and enterprise levels, you are almost guaranteed to be at risk.
Data breaches most often occur due to:
Accidental Insiders
A user without malicious intent may stumble across someone’s device or account due to the owner’s negligence and gain access and information that they are not privy to.
Malicious Insiders
When someone purposely accesses and/or shares data with the intent of causing harm to an individual or company. Despite whether or not they had authorization to access that information, their intent and actions are not within the realm of their permitted actions.
Stolen or Lost Devices
When someone comes into possession of a laptop or external hard drive that is unencrypted and unlocked or they hack it to access it, the information and data on that device can be easily stolen and used.
Malicious Outside Criminals
Hackers who use different tactics in order to gain access to a network in order to gather information on an individual or corporation.
Although a data breach can be the result of an innocent mistake, real damage is possible if the person with unauthorized access steals and sells Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or corporate intellectual data for financial gain or to cause harm. Once the individual has gained access into your network, they have the freedom to search for the information they want and most often go undetected for long periods of time, causing extensive and possibly irreparable damage.
Here are some ways to protect yourself against a data breach:
Patching and updating software
High-grade encryption
Upgrading devices
Enforcing strict security policies when it comes to people using their own devices
Enforcing strong credentials and multi-factor authentication
Educating employees
Data breach prevention needs to include everyone at all levels from customers to IT personnel, and all people in between. When you’re trying to plan how to prevent data breach attacks or leaks, security is only as strong as the weakest link. Every person that interacts with a system can be a potential vulnerability. Even small children with a tablet on your home network can be a risk.
