What is Data Breach?

A data breach is when private, sensitive, or protected information is made available to an unauthorised individual. In a data breach, the files are read, copied, or shared without authorisation. Anyone could be at risk of a data breach, including small businesses, large corporations, and even governments. More significantly, if they are not protected, anyone can endanger others.

The latest IBM Data Breach Report revealed that an alarming 83% of organisations experienced more than one data breach during 2022. According to the 2023 IT Governance, there are 71 publicly disclosed security incidents as of September 2023, bringing the year's total to over 4.5 billion compromised records.

In recent news, Equifax Ltd has been fined over a major cyber-security breach that happened in 2017. The breach includes names, dates of birth, phone numbers, Equifax membership details, partially exposed credit card details, and residential address.

Financial institutions own client data that is very appealing to fraudsters. They have a responsibility to keep it secure, but Equifax failed to do so. By handling their response to the data breach poorly, they made this disaster worse. Cybercriminals are knowledgeable and creative so businesses must uphold the highest standards for data protection.

Practices to Prevent Data Breach

A combination of general best practices and particular security measures is needed to prevent data breaches. The following common measures can aid in preventing data breaches:

Employee Training and Awareness: Employees should receive security training, and the risks of data breaches should be made more prominent. Enlighten them on how to spot and report security risks like phishing emails.
Access Control: Implement strict user rights and access restrictions to make sure that staff have only the access they require to carry out their job duties.
Data Encryption: To prevent unwanted access in the event of a breach, encrypt sensitive data both in transit and at rest.
Regular Software Updates: Update all software with the most recent security patches and upgrades, including operating systems, programs, and security tools.
Firewalls and Intrusion Detection Systems: Use intrusion detection systems to find and address unusual activity, and firewalls to manage network traffic.
Strong Password Policies: Have strong password regulations, which requires complex and unique passwords. Do a regular password change and avoid using easy to guess passwords
Incident Response Plan: Create and keep up a clear incident response plan to manage and lessen the effects of a data breach when it occurs.
Data Backup and Disaster Recovery: To guarantee that data can be rapidly restored in the case of a breach or data loss, regularly backup important data and keep a disaster recovery plan up to date.
Monitoring and Logging:Maintain detailed records, set up alarms, and continuously monitor network and system activity to spot odd or illegal activity.
Physical Security: Secure physical access to server rooms, data centers, and other locations that house sensitive data. To stop unlawful physical access, put access controls, surveillance, and security measures in place.

These procedures offer a solid framework for preventing data breaches. Always keep in mind that cybersecurity is a continuous process, and that companies should evaluate and adjust their security measures as new threats and vulnerabilities arise.

Partnering with a certified cybersecurity company can help your organisation develop strong cybersecurity policies and plans, especially educating you on how to respond to breaches and cyber threat incidents. While protection is steadily improving, the threat of a breach will never go away, especially with attackers constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated with their techniques and approaches.