Never Lose Data Again
3 Measures to Prevent Data Loss and Safeguard Your Company
Key Points:
- Data protection has become critical for businesses of any size because any interruption can result in operation disruptions.
- Businesses are adopting measures to keep their network safer, prevent data leaks, and eventually stop data loss.
- You should encourage a cybersecurity culture because human negligence is the leading cause of data breaches.
- To protect your business, you have to adopt protective measures and educate your employees about how to prevent data loss.
- There are a gazillion ways you and your co-worker can prevent data loss, but you should pay attention to the most critical ones.
Losing business data can be a nightmare for any company. Data loss risks inconveniencing daily operations, compromising the productivity, breaching customer privacy, and damaging your reputation.
While adopting security measures is critical, you and your co-workers should adopt a cybersecurity culture in your organization to eliminate any chance of data loss. You need to invest in a cybersecurity culture that transforms security from a one-time event into a life cycle that generates security returns forever.
While there are different ways to instill a security culture that eliminates all the possibilities of data loss, let’s focus on three defining features.
Always Work from The Company’s Network
Always connect to your office when executing official work. Remote workers love to use public WiFi, forgetting they play a role in preventing data loss in your company.
Employees can get away with working on public WiFi because it is unenforceable unless you restrict data access in your company. While most businesses — especially those with remote workers — don’t prevent access, working on an unauthorized network poses risks of data loss.
Working on an unauthorized network opens your business to hackers and scammers. A hacker can set up a fake WiFi hotspot to lure you into connecting and using it to steal business data passing through the network because it’s under their control.
Attackers can capture your work logins and get access to your system. Hackers can get passwords, documents, or even financial information without getting their way into your company’s system.
Once on your company network system, hackers can infect, steal, or delete data.
How to Safely Use Public Network for Work Purpose
If you work on an unknown network, encrypt your IP address using a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
A VPN will connect your device to a server, so you can browse online using the server’s internet connection. You’ll access a private, anonymous network, which is better when handling the company’s sensitive information.
More importantly, VPN will encrypt your data and make it unreadable when you send it over a public network.
No matter what WiFi you’re using, how expensive your hotels might be, or what you do, it’s essential to use a VPN or a secure encrypted channel to connect to your office.
Don’t Share Information in Public WiFi
Turning off the sharing feature on your computer when using public WiFi is a critical security measure to prevent data loss. Configure your computer in a way that doesn’t share access to files or isn’t visible in public or guest networks.
Disabling the sharing feature is simple, but differs depending on your operating system.
How to Disable Sharing on Windows Computer
On a Windows PC, proceed as follows to disable sharing feature:
- Type in Control Panel in the search box next to Start.
- Select Control Panel to form the resulting list.
- Choose Network and Internet in the Control Panel.
- Find and select Network and Sharing Center.
- Navigate the Change advanced sharing setting option.
- Turn off File and printer sharing and Network discovery.
- Save the changes.
If you’re using a Mac device, the process will be different.
Disabling Sharing on a Mac Device
On your Mac computer, proceed as follows:
- Head to System Preferences.
- Find Sharing.
- Uncheck the File Sharing box.
No need to share your information on public WiFi.
If transferring data over a public network is inevitable, ensure you’ve encrypted your entire device. The encryption secures your data from access, even should attackers find their way to your files.
Don’t Save Your Password on a Browser
Saving a password in your browser is an easy mistake to make. Many people have numerous passwords to keep track of regularly for business and personal purposes.
Nearly everyone is tempted to click the “Remember password” option whenever the browser sends a prompt. Saving passwords in your browser is risky as it can expose sensitive data.
For instance, if you walk away from your computer without locking it — even briefly — at the workplace or in public, you risk someone stealing your passwords with very few simple clicks.
The Dark Side of Saving Your Passwords in a Browser
When you create or log in to an account, your browser stores a database of logins. Next time you want to log in, your browser will scan the login database to find a match. All you’ll need to sign in is to hit the submit button.
The problem is that the database of passwords your website stores is not secure.
If an attacker finds access to your computer, they can readily grab the content of the database — and get access to all private logins. The hacker will thus gain access to your business data.
When you realize that one of your accounts is compromised, you might want to reuse passwords — which is common — the cybercriminal could also gain access to other of your accounts.
If you’re saving your password in your browser, you should stop because you risk losing data. You should instead use a password manager that keeps your information in an encrypted format.
Understand that hackers can retrieve all your password information if they break into your computer.
Palindrome Consulting Can Help Your Business Protect All Its Sensitive Data From Landing into the Wrong Hands
Losing data is an expensive ordeal. Studies show that the average cost of cybercrime is over $17 million. You’re risking continuity if you can’t prevent data loss during an attack or natural disaster.
You can take protective measures to protect your company from financial catastrophe. At Palindrome Consulting, we have security experts who can help you prevent data loss from deletion, data corruption, or unrecoverability. Contact us today to help you seal all the vulnerabilities that can result in data loss.