Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to infiltrate systems and gain an advantage, usually with the idea of gaining useful information that can be monetized or used against the said company in favor of an opponent. The act of doing so is what is referred to as data breaching. Formally, a data breach is a situation whereby weaknesses in an individual or company’s system are exploited by outside parties, usually on a mission to gain information that is private and confidential.
An example of a breach is whereby the attacker uses an inside man, usually an employee of the company, to gain information that may be critical to the breach. In that situation, the individual weakness of the employee is the entry point of the attacker into the otherwise secure company. That kind of attack is what is referred to as a social attack. On the other hand, the attacker may utilize skills that they have acquired to hack into systems and exploit the weakness. That kind of attack is called a system attack. Some other forms of data breaches ranging from malware to phishing, secret critical attacks, ransomware, among others.
Cyber breaches may cause a lot of damage to an organization. Once important information is accessed, it can be used against the organization. Information break occurs regularly, and an organization’s secrets may be leaked on the web. For instance, on July 29, 2017, Equifax, which is arguably one of the largest credit bureaus in the United States, experienced a data breach that affected a large number of its consumers.Approximately 147.9 million customers had their personal information such as social security numbers, addresses, and birthdates accessed by unknown assailants. Such a breach hurt the company’s image, and Equifax was heavily criticized for applying vulnerabilities in their system that streamlined the way for the hackers to gain their way into the system. The vulnerabilities remained unpatched even while Equifax was taking the time to report the breach. This instance is one of the many consequences of data breaches.
Data breaches lead to the loss of finances. Hackers almost always want to cash in on the information that a company holds. Such information may include secret recipes, patents of various inventions, as well as their designs, business strategies, and company secrets. Therefore, when they gain access to a company, they may cause financial damage to the company or individual in question. The process of damage control also requires significant finances as it involves the sealing of the vulnerabilities, compensation of affected customers, and trying to win back the confidence so shareholders.
In a world where information travels fast, the news that a company has been breached usually reaches consumers’ smartphones in a matter of seconds. The news has the potential to be disastrous to the reputation of a company, especially one that deals with customer data. The implications of the breach linger long into the future, thus tainting the name of the company. A survey established that approximately 65% of victims affected by data breaches found themselves not trusting the organizations with their data. ()
Another risk comes in the form of legal action. Data breaches that affect organizations may touch on personal information of the individuals in question. As a result, the affected individuals may seek lawful means to sue the organization to gain compensation for the loss of their sensitive information. For instance, Target ended up paying 18.5 million dollars as settlement as a result of a data breach that affected the retail giant. The breach had led to access to millions of customer’s payment card accounts. The hackers were able to gain the full names, verification codes, and other sensitive data that should otherwise have been secure. ()
Finally, data breaches significantly hinder the operation of the affected organizations. If hackers gain information through a data breach, most organizations tend to shut down operations to patch the leak. That period of shutdown in itself disrupts the workflow of an organization in a significant way. Also, the disruption of normal activities may lead to some customers parting ways with the company.
Considering the apparent consequences a data breach may have on an organization, the organization must put into place measures that can prevent the breach from happening. One of the ways to avoid a data breach is physical security. It involves locking server rooms, securing offices, especially critical employees with exclusive access. Also, the target building should always have proper protection. The types of security measures vary from security guards, security cards that employees can swipe before the entrance, CCTV monitoring as well as security perimeter that encloses the area.
Employee training is also an essential tool to help protect data. In many instances, data is retrieved easily from vulnerable employees. Thus, the importance of educating the workforce on data protection and how they can be exploited. The employees become aware of the dangers they are exposed to and act accordingly when faced with signs of a data breach.
Performing security audits is another way of preventing data breaches. Analyzing the security systems in place is critical to keep the methods robust and up to date. Hackers are always looking for ways into a system, and therefore it beats logic not only to check if the systems are in place but also to improve on them. The audit will also assist organizations in identifying outdated security systems. The inspection may also identify vulnerabilities that can be patched to create a system that is secure.
Another way to prevent data breaching is by setting up foolproof firewalls. The organizations should invest in secure firewalls that are from tried and tested companies. The application of reliable and hard to break firewalls will prove a deterrent to the hackers. Some other notable mentions in preventing data breaches in organizations are the use of strong passwords, regular system checks, as well as the encryption of company data.