How Organizations Can Avoid Data Breaches And Thus Meet Their Security Obligations

Stay on top of security developments by following these five pieces of advice

With cyber attacks becoming increasingly common in the present day, it is vital for companies to ensure that

they keep their data safe from breaches

1 KEEP YOUR IT INFRASTRUCTURE IN GOOD HEALTH

Knowing and understanding your IT infrastructure is an essential first step for

keeping it safe and sound

Get to know what types of software you are using and what new updates or patches are

available

Get to know what types of software you are using and what new updates or patches are

available

Install new security and safety features as soon as they become available

If a data breach does occur and you have fulfilled all of your legal obligations under the Data Protection Act, then it is unlikely that you

will have to pay a penalty

Monitor your IT infrastructure at all times to make sure that you catch any

attempted breaches

Monitoring IT security should be a 24/7 job as attacks can happen at any time

Put in place encryption policies

Put in place encryption policies

Intrusion detection and

prevention programs

Regular automatic

assessments

Backup programs

A key method of cyber attackers is to send you a malicious file to download as an email attachment

Stop new files from downloading automatically until they have been

checked manually

3 EDUCATE ALL COMPANY MEMBERS ABOUT IT SECURITY

Get everyone on board when it comes to monitoring the security of your IT

infrastructure

Train employees to encrypt their information and to recognize attempted

cyber attacks

Train employees to encrypt their information and to recognize attempted

cyber attacks

Create a set of employee

regulations

One very good policy to implement here is data minimization: this means only sharing data with the minimum number of top level

employees

A single lost laptop can result in a huge data breach

4HAVE A DETAILED PLAN ABOUT WHAT TO DO IN THE EVENT OF A DATA BREACH

Plans about how to respond to suspicious activity

Set up real time alerts which enable you to identify threats

If there is a data breach, the relevant part of the system should be shut down following the advice of an IT professional. This will best preserve evidence of

the breach which can be analyzed in order to improve future security

Integrate prevention and response strategies into your day to day

operations

5 BE SMART ABOUT WHO YOU HIRE

Hiring an IT professional (or a team of professionals) to keep your IT

infrastructure safe is a very good idea

Think of this additional hire as an investment rather than a loss of

money

Do not just look close to home, either: tap in to the global talent pool to ensure that you hire the perfect

person for the job

Think of this additional hire as an investment rather than a loss of

money

Hiring a dedicated person, or group of people, to deal with your company’s cyber security, moreover, is very good for business

Many security professionals can work remotely for much of the time

Show the world that you care a lot about keeping all of your customers’ and also any business partners’ data safe and secure at all times

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