Data breach attempts are disturbingly commonplace, and yet there are still lots of businesses that fail to do all they can to protect themselves from the fallout of a successful attack.
To make sure that your organization is not left unnecessarily exposed, here is a look at the main ways in which vulnerabilities can exist so that you can fix them before it is too late.
Data Sprawl
The key culprit in many breaches is data sprawl; that state of affairs that arises when employees store mission-critical files in different locations, using different devices and services so that it is incredibly hard to monitor where all of this information might be at any time.
The solution is to ensure that you embrace a unified approach to data storage and set out a series of rigid protocols for how team members are expected to create and store data so that it is much easier to monitor. This will not only reduce the chances of a breach occurring but will also make your operations far more efficient.
Phishing Scams
The number of scams targeting businesses and individuals alike is on the rise, and email campaigns, in particular, can be seen as a real danger, as con artists are getting increasingly sophisticated in their targeting techniques.
It is not just a case of being concerned about malicious software infecting business devices and systems through phishing emails and websites, but also the issue of employees willingly giving away sensitive information because they have been duped by the contents of these messages.
Making use of the latest software to detect and fend off phishing scams before they even reach the inboxes of employees is sensible. And once again, appropriate employee training can also go a long way to combating this type of threat.
Social Networking
While all organizations can benefit from the effective use of social media services, over the years sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have also been misused by businesses, often by accident. If the posts you publish contain information that should not really be released to the public domain, then this is clearly a problem, and yet one which is not as rare as you might hope.
This makes it important to thoroughly vet and re-check any social posts before you fire them into your feeds, and also to hire seasoned professionals to handle your social presence rather than offloading this to inexperienced individuals.
Wi-Fi Connectivity
Wireless network access is offered on-premises by most businesses, but unless you adequately secure your hotspots then you could be exposing a whole host of internal assets to outside exploitation.
Likewise, if team members head out and about with a device that contains business data and connects to an unsecured public Wi-Fi service, they will be creating similarly severe risks of a breach taking place.
It, therefore, makes sense to add robust security measures to your own Wi-Fi infrastructure, and also to instruct staff to use a secure VPN to connect to business services when they are working remotely.
Internet-Enabled Gadgets
Leading on from the concerns associated with Wi-Fi, it is also worth talking about the vulnerabilities associated with the devices that connect to the internet using wireless signals.
The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), which encompasses everything from wearable tech to networked printers and security cameras, has brought a lot of convenience with it but also offered up new weak points in the chain of business connectivity.
Policing the use of IoT devices is of course just part of the puzzle of modern business security, so having a varied strategy to cope with the myriad threats facing you is vital.
