How To Prevent Data Breaches In 2022?

If you are here to know about the data breaches in 2022 and the factors supporting the data breaches, you have landed in the correct place. In this article, we’ll see the in-depth information about data breaches and learn how to prevent data breaches in 2022.

Data breaches could cost the world’s top brands up to $225 billion, observes a study (Holy! That’s a lot). Data breaches cost a business roughly around $4.6 million every year, and that number is only increasing.

But with data breaches, the main concern is of the users. Users’ personal information, bank details, location, and other sensitive information can be stolen/leaked.

Let’s dive in to learn more about data breaches, factors contributing to data breaches, and know how to prevent data breaches in 2022. 

Also find out: If your phone has been hacked or tapped.

What is a data breach?

An event where sensitive and confidential information is exposed/stolen from the system by a third party without the knowledge of authorized people is known as a data breach. 

Above all, data breaching is an ever-green problem on the internet. Data breaching can happen in cloud storage or a physical storage setup. Whether online or offline, no individual nor any online organization can truly escape this problem of cybercrime. 

In addition, when a data breach happens in an organization and results in identity theft or violation of government mandatory ordinances. Moreover, the organization can face charges, loss of reputation, and even loss of the right to operate the business. 

What are the causes of data breaches?

The hackers/attackers are always searching for a new way to steal, access, and compromise your data. The 100% security of cyberspace is never guaranteed.

Some factors you need to understand causing data breaches are:

• Stolen storage device/hardware: 

Losing the storage device where you kept all the important data can lead to a data breach.

• Weak login credentials: 

The password must be strong. Fragile security information has a high chance of getting hacked.

• Unauthorized use: 

Colleague/Employee can misuse the provided information (business/personal)  by sharing or copying it. 

• Cyberattacks: 

Hackers spread harmful computer viruses with weak security and collect information to sell it or commit fraud.

• Human error: 

The most common data breach happens when people send information to the wrong person by mistake.

What happens to the breached data?

It depends on the person who stole your data. Mostly the stolen data are sold on the dark web. Hackers have the ability to create clone cards from stolen credit card numbers and security codes for fraudulent transactions.  

In recent years, hackers have targeted health care sector data. 

In 2021, hackers stole the data from the Finnish psychotherapy practice firm Vastaamo and demanded a ransom. They also threatened the patients to reveal their mental health records unless they paid $200 in bitcoin. The hacker disclosed some information on the internet.

Companies failing to prevent data breaches

Small or large, no companies are safe from the danger of data breaches. Many breaches have happened in the past few years. 

Here are some companies that faced the biggest data breaches:

• Yahoo

Yahoo was hacked in 2013 and 2014. In that hack, they lost data of 3 billion and 500 million users, respectively.

• First American Financial Corp

This company lost the data of 885 million users due to weak security in 2019.

• Facebook

Even giant companies like Facebook couldn’t be safe from data breaches. In 2019, the data of 540 million people were breached due to poor security.

8 ways how you can prevent data breaches

Data loss prevention is an obstacle every organization (big or small) will meet. There exist no security tools or measures that can entirely prevent data breaches. 

A single measure is not enough to protect yourself or your organization from data breaches, and it would be best if you had multiple steps. Here are 8 ways you can apply to prevent data breaches.

• Follow a data breach prevention strategy.

You need to create a strategy and stick to it. Developing a plan to fight against data breaches puts the company one step ahead.

First, the company’s crucial data must be prioritized, then categorize the data in the best possible way so that you can monitor the flow of data. If there is a disturbance in the data flow, you can easily access the data.

• Use strong credentials

A strong login password is necessary, and a weak security password can lead to attackers attacking your data and exploiting it easily. 

You can use authentication software like google authentication to ensure cyber attackers cannot access your data easily. To access the important data, you will need to enter a unique code generated from the authentication app.

• Identify 3rd party risks.

In every company, there exists a business with a third-party vendor. Now it’s more important than ever to know who these people are. 

A CEO must take strict and preventive measures. Many of those associates don’t take cybersecurity to the same level you do. Ensure all third parties connecting with your business must follow the regulatory standards.

• Back up data and set up a recovery.

A data breach can lead to the deletion of your and your company’s data. To lose the data in your business is to lose your business itself. Make sure you are constantly backing up your data. 

It’s significant to have a backup of your data if it is corrupted or deleted. Then, you can recover the original data.

• Regularly update your software.

IT experts recommend everyone keep all the software applications and operating systems up to date. Your network is vulnerable when the systems are not updated regularly.

Therefore, install new patches when available as it helps strengthen your network and stop attacks before they happen.

• Make your employee aware.

An employee can be the weakest link to the data security chain; that’s why it is very important to educate the employee on protecting data from being lost/corrupt.

So, educating employees can be done by helping them understand how to create a strong password, how often to change it, and assisting them in spot, avoiding, and reporting scams and other suspicious activities.

• Hire an expert.

Managing a business and also worrying about data loss can be stressful. You can’t do everything on your own, and that’s why hiring a security expert can help you save time and avoid data breaches within your company.

• Install Antivirus software.

Antivirus software detects the malware and viruses in your computer by scanning them. 

People download different files from the internet. And those files may consist of malware. Antivirus software warns you if the downloaded files are corrupted and help avoid harm to the computer and data.

Conclusion

Data are the most valuable commodity in this technological world. Therefore, strict and regular measures must be taken to protect your company data. 

Attackers are constantly trying to attack your device and steal the information and data in new ways. No particular measure can guarantee the safety of the data, so you must take multiple steps and be on top of the security game. So, you must learn how to prevent data breaches in 2022 and the coming years. 

Installing antivirus software can help you prevent downloading malware and corrupt files. So, Kaspersky antivirus is software to go for.

Also read: Data backup and Backup