Data is among your most important assets, providing insight for making strategic decisions and building stronger customer and partner relationships. Data can also be a risk if you do not take the necessary steps to protect it.
Companies could lose millions dollars as a result of data breaches. They can also affect the brand’s image, undermine confidence and lead to sanctions from regulators. Data breaches are inevitable. However, there are ways to mitigate the threat and protect yourself against cybercriminals.
1. Authorize users to authenticate and authenticate them.
Data security requires authentication and authorization process that is secure to ensure only authorized people have access to your information. This can be achieved by using two or more types of identification to gain access to your information, such as something they know (passwords and security tokens), something they have (electronic devices and other hardware) or even something they’re (biometrics like fingerprints and facial recognition).
2. Encrypt everything.
The most sensitive data you can store is classified information. Any disclosure that is not authorized could have serious implications for your company or people affected. To protect classified information, it should always be secured and encrypted using the use of a decryption key that is only available to authorized personnel. Classifications should be evaluated regularly and your team should establish an appropriate policy for managing encryption keys to ensure they are not compromised.
3. Reduce non-essential data access.
Most employees don’t require full access to the data of your company. This decreases the likelihood of a security breach since it reduces the number possible entry points that could be used by hackers. It’s beneficial to restrict access to the minimum amount of data needed to complete the task and also to utilize the user ID to restrict access to information even if usernames and passwords are stolen.