The increasing number of data breaches and hacking incidents have made cyber security the biggest concern of all enterprises worldwide. Reports claim that cases of unauthorized access to crucial business data including intellectual property, employee information, financial records, etc. are rising continuously.
In addition, the year 2017 was reported to be the busiest year for cybercriminals as they implanted major data breaches on a weekly basis. According to the leading cyber security companies, the rising number of data theft incidents have leveraged enterprises to take appropriate measures for providing best-in-class security to their IT infrastructure.
Some security measures that enterprises can take to prevent data breaches include:
- Firewall Installation
Firewalls are the primary security barricade for an enterprise’s IT infrastructure. According to the top cyber security consulting firms, firewall deployment provides an extra layer of protection to the system. It prevents unauthorized connections and malicious software from entering the enterprise network. It effectively monitors the private network’s traffic movement and detects any malicious behavior to block unauthorized access attempts. Thus, IT experts suggest enterprises to avail web application firewall services to enforce new-age security to their system.
- Keeping Business and Personal Accounts Separate
Cybercriminals initiate attacks majorly through e-mails. Thus, IT experts suggest business professionals to keep their personal and business e-mail accounts separate. According to the top cyber security companies, if a personnel stores business information in personal accounts, hackers can gain access to steal the sensitive information and passwords. In order to provide an extra layer of security, enterprises can also encrypt sensitive and confidential information.
- Enforcement of Restrictive Data Permissions
According to reports, most data breaches are initiated via front doors by company employees. Therefore, enterprises should restrict the access of vital information. The concerned authorities should ensure that employees have access to limited information as necessary for their job. According to security experts, framing of strict data access policies and enforcement of restrictive data permissions strengthens the security credentials.
- Other Precautionary Measures
In order to provide efficient and powerful security to sensitive data, every enterprise should to take precautionary measures. Some of them include:
- Educating and training the employee force is the first step towards protecting an enterprise against data thefts
- Setting up of a virtual private network (VPN) for the team when they use internet outside the protected office premises
- Effective monitoring of permission modifications and critical file accessibility
- Masking of sensitive enterprise data
- Having effective backup and recovery plans in case of emergencies
In order to enhance the security standards, enterprises should strengthen their IT infrastructure with cyber security solutions, security and surveillance services, application security services, and data security and backup services.