How to Secure Business from Data Leakage
The number of incidents related to the loss of confidential information increases every year. Information leakage is a serious danger for many enterprises. It may occur as a result of the intent of third parties or through the negligence of employees. Creating a system for protecting information assets from loss in companies should be carried out on a professional level using modern technical means. For this, it is necessary to have an idea of the leakage channels and methods of blocking these channels, as well as the requirements for modern security systems.
How Information Flows Away
There are plenty of sources through which information leaves the company.
It is also a bad idea to use the same password for all accounts, ranging from social networks and ending with online banking. Pixbay
- Computers are the second most common channel after paper documents through which insiders receive confidential information. But, in fact, the computer is no longer a channel for transmitting secret data, but a channel for receiving them. Through it, an insider can access corporate information stored on the company's server, download it to removable media, or send it via email. The network attached storage can also be hacked. Read more here about this device https://www.bestadvisers.co.uk/network-attached-storage
- The second source is various instant messengers (Skype, ICQ, etc.), e-mail, open sources (social networks, forums), flash drives, disks, backup copies. As in the case of accidental leaks, and if there was deliberate data transfer, the sources are the same.
To obtain classified information, there is almost an entire industry – illegal and competitive intelligence. The first implies espionage: those who need information, recruit employees of the company or introduce their employees into the staff. Competitive intelligence operates openly – through social networks, interviews, open sources of information.
Practical Tips to Protect Your Commercial Data
Change Passwords to Stronger Ones
The development of Internet fraud and the frequency of data theft has prompted scientists to rank the most unreliable passwords. Analysis of 5 million cracked passwords showed that careless users demonstrate constancy – the first place in the list for several years has been taken by the combination "123456".
Therefore, it is important to monitor your online behavior to protect not only information about yourself but also your own individuality. Pixabay
It is also a bad idea to use the same password for all accounts, ranging from social networks and ending with online banking. In addition, it is undesirable to use brand names, names of famous personalities, and popular phrases, since hackers have been able to guess such passwords for a long time. The strongest passwords are usually long, so better use whole passphrases.
Install a Data Leak Prevention System (DLP)
It tracks the transfer and listing of files, sudden bursts of Internet communication, visits to sites uncharacteristic for work, etc. It also performs a linguistic analysis of correspondence and documents and identifies the danger of leakage using keywords.
Remember That Privacy Is Worth Protecting
Even if you have absolutely nothing to hide, you still need to protect the confidentiality of your data. Increasingly, our entire life fits in a series of short data that is sold on the Internet. Therefore, it is important to monitor your online behavior to protect not only information about yourself but also your own individuality.
