How Tech-Based Companies Are Securing Data From Breaches

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A misconception amongst the tech-industry exists that hackers and data breaches are a problem only for large-scale corporations. It is a bare truth as small-to-midsize businesses are more vulnerable to experiencing a data breacher or a cyberattack. Such a misconception prevents companies from taking cybersecurity and data breaches seriously. Not only do they completely ignore it, but they also don’t do anything to protect themselves from its derailing after-effects. According to IBM’s 2020 data breach report, the USA faces an average cost of 8 million dollars in data breaches alone. 

Nowadays, hackers are also using the Covid-19 pandemic to its fullest and are launching attacks such as phishing emails, malware, and ransomware. They know that businesses are financially vulnerable and will do anything to acquire the long lost treasure that hackers so blatantly promise them. Also, as antivirus programs become more aware, so do the hackers. They are creating new and improved ways of causing data breaches undetectable by any antivirus software. Most of them are not even twenty-four hours old. How do tech-based companies protect themselves from such data breaches? How can a small business owner like yourself detect and mitigate such data breaches? The answers to these questions are present inside this article. However, you will have to read it till the end if you are serious about protecting yourself from such data breaches.

EDUCATING EMPLOYEES

Employees are the weaklings inside any cybersecurity chain. It means that employees don’t have any awareness about data breaches. They are just here to clock-in, finish their work, and clock-out. Even if a company has the best firewall, it will not do them any good if their employees are not aware of the latest cyber-attacks. That is why tech-based companies educate their employees regularly.

They conduct information security seminars, sponsor them for completing a masters in cyber security online or arrange in-house network attack awareness programs. The more aware the employees, the more difficult it will be for hackers to trick them into unveiling confidential data. Instead of being the weakest links, these employees will turn into an anti-breach force themselves. 

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SECURITY TOOLS

Installing the latest security tools will not do a business any good if they don’t utilize them to their maximum potential. They usually commit such a mistake regularly. After spending thousands of dollars purchasing the best security tools, they rarely take advantage of what they have to offer. They go for the essential functions and ignore some good preloaded ones. 

Tech-based companies usually utilize them to the max. They place firewalls, keep their anti-malware software up-to-date, use VPNs when using the internet. The specialist backups all their confidential data on a remote location someplace safe. With security software, the ability to do such things comes preloaded inside it. 

USING DIFFICULT PASSWORDS 

In the past, companies rarely asked their employees to use complex passwords on their work computers. However, recent data breaches changed such a practice. Whenever a security expert visits a company to spread awareness about cybersecurity, he/she puts extra focus on how important it is to use complicated passwords. According to toa consensus, people typically use their date of birth or phone number as their passwords. And some even go to the extent of using the same passwords for all their accounts. 

 A good practice is to use passwords that contain uppercase letters, numbers, alphabets, and symbols. The more complicated you can make it, the harder it will be for hackers to decipher. On the flip side, don’t make it too complicated that even you forget what it was. 

LIMITING ACCESS

If you don’t trust these tactics, there is nothing better to do than to limit data access to employees. Tech-based companies use this strategy often as they deal with computers that contain valuable information. However, restricting access to data will not be an ideal approach. However, it will enable you to limit your employee’s access to sensitive information. 

Tech-based companies keep track of all their employees’ activities and create admin accounts to ensure that they don’t access data outside their work scope. By doing so, everything will run smoothly, and there won’t be any chance of an employee leaking data online or getting scammed by a hacker. 

UPDATING SOFTWARE REGULARLY

IT professionals recommend that companies must update and keep their security software current. The right way to do this is to install patches whenever they are available. Your network will be at risk if security programs aren’t updated and patched with their latest versions.

Using Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, companies can keep a check on all programs to ensure they are up-to-date and patched with the latest versions. It is an extraordinarily cost-effect and easy way that tech-companies use to ensure that they aren’t prone to data breaches. Sometimes, doing so will also stop cyberattacks before they even become active inside a device.

GIVING MORE CONTROL TO EMPLOYEES

Another reason why companies face data breaches is that they don’t trust their employees regarding cybersecurity. Instead of seeing them as an asset for their business, they start to see them as a liability. Due to such a lack of trust, companies opt out of giving more control to their employees. A move such as this backfires in the most horrific ways and will lead to any business’s downfall. 

Tech-companies usually give more control to their employees in some cases, of course. They have security measures that send out a notification to the cybersecurity department head when an employee opens a suspicious email or website. It allows a company to hold its employees accountable for their actions and provides its employees with much-needed support to avoid data breaches. 

CONCLUSION

According to IBM’s cybersecurity resilience study, around 77 percent of It experts admitted they do not have an incident response plan in effect. Something like this is extremely worrying. If a company does not have an incidence plan in place, it will not know how to react when experiencing a data breach or deal with its aftermaths. Such a delay can damage any company’s assets and result in considerable losses in data breaches, financially and business operations wise. 

So, consider keeping all your security programs up-to-date, educating your employees, conducting training sessions, and spreading overall awareness about cybersecurity threats amongst each person present in your business. It could make or break your business’s rise to success.