How to avoid data leakage in business?

How do you prevent data leaks in your company?

The security of data and information in companies is increasingly becoming a concern due to the increase in cyber attacks and the increasingly sophisticated methods to carry out these attacks.

The leakage of data and information from companies can result from a failure or a set of failures that happen individually or in isolation due to the lack of an information security policy, human failures such as accidents or reckless behavior, vulnerability of systems or lack of backups.

In order to reverse this reality, there are some practices that businesses can adopt such as:

• strengthening password management policies;

• control of accessibility to data and information;

• review of server certificates;

• internal protection of devices through firewalls and antivirus;

• regular testing and analysis;

• real time monitoring of the corporate network;

• web applications to detect and prevent web attacks;

• development and testing of response plans to potential data leaks.

Internal security tools

To maintain network security and decrease exposure to potential risks, installing antivirus and firewalls is one way to protect against malware as they act as a barrier to prevent unauthorized access to computers and devices.

Data encryption is a security measure that allows encrypting information that can only be decrypted by using a code that will revert this information to its original format. There is symmetric encryption in which the type of encryption involves using the same password for encrypting and decrypting the information, and asymmetric encryption, considered more secure, uses distinct passwords for encryption and decryption.

Backup should be performed on a regular basis and involves storing several backup copies of data and information in cloud solutions or physical devices - servers and external disks - in order to avoid compromising the loss of large volumes of information important for business operation. From the backup performed, it becomes possible to recover data more quickly without affecting the business activity.

Protection against risks on mobile devices

The new work formats that allow employees to access data and tools through mobile devices, from different locations and outside the company where they work, have developed an increased risk of exposure and leakage of data and information. Thus, it is essential that preventive security measures are taken, such as the adoption of protection strategies, authentication policies and anti-malware solutions.

Employee awareness

In order to prevent and anticipate potential data leaks, training employees with the necessary skills to identify a cyberattack can be an option to adopt because taking into consideration that employees have access to important data and that the human element still represents one of the main causes of attacks that compromise data and systems, it is essential that they have the necessary knowledge to work on a daily basis without compromising the security of the business in which they work.

Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, which requires attention from companies and organizations in order to ensure the security of information and the financial, moral and ethical integrity of each business.

Leakage of confidential data can be very damaging to business and therefore measures should be taken to prevent it, so that information is fully and safely transmitted through protected computers and devices and accessible only by authorized persons.