Data Security and Preventing Breaches: Why It Matters

There’s no question why a data leak is an IT professional’s worst nightmare. Hackers can glean all types of sensitive information from company employees, allowing identity theft and exchanges of up to billions of dollars in ransom money to take place.

In order to prevent this horrible possibility from occurring, there are several effective steps you can take that have to do with protection of sensitive data as well as proper destruction of data on retired devices. Not sure where to begin? Here is a step-by-step guide to keep your company’s precious data safe and secure.

Know which data is the most sensitive. In order to successfully protect your company’s data from hackers, it’s important to identify which data needs which level of protection. In order for Data Loss Prevention or DLP software to work correctly, your company’s data needs to be thoroughly organized and classified. Though this may seem like an overwhelming task at first, taking your entire company’s data organization step by step can make the process more manageable.

Carry out extensive employee training. Sometimes, your employees are the most vulnerable facet of your data center in the eyes of hackers. Make sure that your company has distinct data security policies in place and that your employees’ duties and responsibilities are regularly reinforced. A company-wide culture of strict security can make a huge difference in your vulnerability to breaches.

Identify and secure your company’s data endpoints. Data endpoints are the devices within which your company’s data leaves your network. This usually means the devices used by employees, and bringing personal devices to and from work is becoming more and more common. Identify all of your company’s endpoints and utilize DLP software to thoroughly monitor those endpoints at all times.

Prioritize data encryption. Data encryption is essentially an added layer of protection against breaches in addition to DLP software. When you encrypt your data, the information will be safe even if it is successfully stolen. Though encryption is not 100% effective, it drastically increases your company’s chances of getting through a breach attempt unscathed.

Create an in-depth monitoring plan. Most hacks do not happen all at once. In fact, hackers can remain in the data mining process for a period of months before their breach is considered complete. When you introduce a monitoring process with which to keep an eye on your company’s normal data usage, finding inconsistencies and warning signs within data patterns will be even easier.

Make sure retired devices are properly wiped and destroyed. It would be a shame if your company went through an extensive list of anti-breach actions only to have sensitive data stolen from a discarded device that wasn’t correctly wiped of data. Even if your employees erase all data from their devices before discarding them, it’s highly likely that this data can be recovered by expert hackers.

Company employees are not experts when it comes to destroying data on retired devices. Plus, company operations for liquidation may not be completely theft-proof. This is where SEAM comes in. If you need professional data destruction in South Dakota to ensure that your sensitive information remains secure, contact Seam today.