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Understanding and assessing risk in corporate data breaches has become a priority since so many businesses have struggled with security breaches in the last couple of years. For example, 39 percent of companies experience cyber-attacks in the UK every year.
The consequences of a data breach can be both minor and major, from material loss to damaged reputation. In either case, businesses have to suffer, so solutions are needed. And most importantly, companies should take these data breaches more seriously and look for signs indicating a possible security breach.
If you are the lucky owner of a large company, it would be better not to assume that it will never be at risk of a data breach. Indeed, small and medium businesses are more vulnerable to these threats, as they do not dispose of state-of-the-art technology and resources to combat a large-scale attack. Still, highly developed enterprises can experience such unpleasant situations, too. As a company grows and attracts more clients, it also lures malicious actors who would do their best to compromise its systems and steal crucial data, including credit card information and social security numbers.
The good news is that you can prevent these cyberattacks from happening beforehand if you take the proper steps. The first and most important step is understanding what exposes your business to the risk of a data breach. So, here are the most obvious signs:
Login issues
If you notice some login problems that persist, be sure that something is wrong. While it is normal to forget credentials from time to time and have an error when trying to access an account, it might be a cyber security concern if you are one hundred percent sure that you entered the correct password. Maybe the malicious person did not manage to access your account, but after many tries entering the wrong password, they might have locked it, hence the login error. When such events happen, it would be best to let the IT team know, particularly if your employees experience the same problem.
The best way to avoid credential cracking is to build strong passwords. Avoid combinations such as your date of birth and favourite football team followed by the so common “1234” because these will be a hacker’s first tries. Instead, think about combinations of letters and numbers that have nothing to do with you. Consider random, long phrases, and remember to create a unique password for each of your accounts or websites. Suppose someone manages to access one of your accounts; they will try their luck with the same credential everywhere else. Thus, be one step forward and confuse these malicious actors with mega secure passwords that are impossible to guess.
Outdated software
Old and not updated systems are the most vulnerable to security breaches, as they lack the needed upgrades to fight against these malicious threats. If you do not update your software regularly, getting it hacked should come as no surprise. Cybercriminals know these outdated systems’ vulnerabilities well and would act right against them, so ensure you confuse them at least a bit and install out-of-the-box software.
Technological developments nowadays allow companies to install patches meant to combat the risk of a data breach, but even so, these must be constantly updated. Take the Microsoft example. The company regularly updates its software to align with the ever-changing users’ needs and security issues.
Consider having modern anti-malware software that you update frequently and look forward to new technologies to help fight cyber threats. Indeed, these might be pricey, but we assure you that they are not more expensive than the damage involved in the case of a large-scale data breach. Besides, there are legal implications that follow a data breach, so if it ever happens to be the target of such a vicious breach, it might be needed to work with a professional lawyer. Specialists can help fill a data breach comp in the UK so that you can get maximum compensation for your losses – that can be both material and psychological.
Data is not encrypted
In today’s digital world, it is all about data – customer details, credit card information, payroll reports, etc. But what happens when this critical data is kept in simple spreadsheets or stored on corporate servers? It is at risk of being hacked. These storage methods are not encrypted, meaning that information can be available to anyone wanting to compromise them. There are advanced programmes that help cyber criminals crack credentials in no time, but if you have an encrypted system in place, the chances for them to fail are higher. Even if they somehow manage to access your data, all they can see is encoded plain text, thus unreadable information. Due to the algorithms used, encrypted servers are some of the most helpful means to protect yourself against data breaches.
Lack of employee cybersecurity training
It might be a less obvious sign, but it is one of the most significant. Believe it or not, most cyber-attacks result from human error. A 2019 report shows that 94 percent of malware threats occur via email. Your employees can receive an email with a fraudulent link and fall into a phishing trap. It is not their intention, but when they are not trained enough in this sense, this is inevitable. That is why it is highly advisable to teach your workers what these cyber threats mean, how they are delivered, and, most importantly, prevention methods.
Although these emails are often aimed at convincing employees to click on some suspicious links or download a file, they can take more sophisticated forms than you imagine. As technology has evolved, so have hacking methods. Thus, it would be wiser not to depend only on state-of-the-art firewalls but also to take into account human error and train your employees accordingly.
“Is my business at risk of a data breach?” – Now that you have gone through some of the most common signs of a security breach, we think you can answer yourself.