Cyber attacks and data breaches can cause serious disruptions to businesses, both internally and externally. They can cause the loss of revenue from dissatisfied customers, legal action from regulatory agencies and reputational damage. It is crucial to keep in mind that a lot of these threats are preventable with the proper security measures.
To protect its data, businesses must adhere to specific laws and regulations. These laws and regulations could be specific to a specific region, such as GDPR in the EU, or to certain industries, like HIPAA in the United States. However, they must be present regardless of the size or scope of the company’s operations.
These rules and regulations typically contain things like encryption of sensitive information transmitted over public networks, and ensuring the security of employees through checking references or conducting background checks of job applicants, and only collecting data essential to business processes. These rules and regulations usually require encryption on devices such as laptops and portable storage. They may even contain a rule that prohibits the use of software not endorsed by their company, as this increases the chance of malware and data breaches.
Furthermore, companies need to understand the entire lifecycle of data and the process by which it travels through the network. This can be accomplished with the help of data maps, which can provide a timeline of how data came to the company, where it currently lives and who has access to it. Data should only be collected for use in operations, and should not be kept longer than is needed. This reduces the risk of data breach. Zero Trust architecture is a method of dealing with cybersecurity that could benefit businesses, since it enforces the concept of never putting any trust in any device or user until they have been verified.
