Data breaches are increasingly common in today's tech-based workspace. There's more money to be had stealing customer records than going in for cash, and savvy criminals now have their eyes on these valuable goods. In 2016, data breaches increased 40 percent. These breaches rack up numerous costs, from legal fees and data recovery to lost loyalty from customers. Save money by staying proactive about your security.
Firewalls Keep Threats Out
Your firewall is your first line of defense against malicious attacks. Firewalls help filter information, protecting data that you want to keep inside your security parameters, and keeping hackers at bay on the other side. This will minimize unwanted network communications. The best firewalls also alert your IT security team to any attempted breach, so you can investigate the threat early and seek out malware before it has a chance to root itself in your system. This early alert will help save you from exorbitantly costly attacks.
Stress Testing Protects Against DDOS Attacks
Visual Content DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks are a common practice that cyber criminals use to overwhelm and weaken systems. Routers, firewalls, and entire servers can fall under the weight of falsely generated traffic in a DDOS attack. Stress testing is an effective way to locate weak points and shore up your defenses. DDOS attacks are some of the most costly, as they require extensive time and resources for recovery. Protecting yourself now will save you in the long run.
Employee Training Minimizes Weak Points
Your employees are one of the weakest parts of your security system. If your employees don't know the proper way to store and protect data, they could unwittingly open a door for cyber criminals to stroll right through. Make sure everyone in your company is familiar with your security practices. Train them on the proper way to store data in the cloud. Clearly define the proper folders for various types of information and specify the required security measures for customer data.
Require regular backups of all data, preferably to a well-protected place in the cloud, so your employees don't have any fear of ransomware. When you back up your data, you can shut down any server impacted by ransomware and simply recover your information from another source.
A Response Plan Stops Criminals Faster
Even the best security measures may be thwarted by savvy cyber criminals. It's not enough to hide behind your safeguards assuming that they'll keep threats at bay. Have an effective incident response (IR) plan in place so you can respond promptly and effectively to any security breach. This will greatly minimize the scope of the attack, so criminals make off with as little information as possible.
The average cost of a data breach is $158 per record, but you can minimize this by $16 a record simply by having an IR team in place.
Don't wait until your data is facing a serious threat to assess the cost of an attack. Stay proactive in your security measures to give your customers the protection they deserve.
I hope you enjoyed this article about how to be proactive with data security to save money and significantly reduce liability.
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Published by Michael J Schiemer
Owner of the Bootstrap Business Blog
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