A data breach can happen unexpectedly, and affect any organization, regardless of their size.
A data breach can happen unexpectedly, and affect any organization, regardless of their size. How can you better protect the sensitive data your employees and customers are entrusting to you? Here are several ways to safeguard your critical information and prevent the next newsworthy data leak.
Strengthen Your Passwords
A quick way to prevent the possibility of a data breach is to start by strengthening your existing passwords. Whether you change them every two weeks, once every month, or once every six months, it is worth your while to keep your passwords unpredictable and relatively fresh. Old passwords become increasingly vulnerable over time unless they change every so often. Make sure to give stringent password protection to all computers and other access points, such as firewalls, servers, and routers. Don’t rely on using one standard password for all of these entry points. Although that makes it easier to remember, using small variations each time can help increase the security of your technology.
Establish Stronger Firewalls
Your firewalls protect your network from unauthorized access. Issue authorized users with the passwords and other access methods needed to unlock the firewalls. Beyond spam and phishing attempts, firewalls can prevent infiltration by malware, ransomware, and viruses. Another way to increase security is to only open the firewall for business purposes. Any machines connected to the time clock or otherwise responsible for storing and tracking financial data must not be allowed to connect to the Internet at large, either.
Monitor Access Privileges
Another way to safeguard your business against a possible data breach is to monitor any and all access privileges for your internal network. Ensure that two-factor authentication is used at all times. While remote workers will need access, make sure that third-party access is impossible or restricted to an as-needed basis instead of leaving it immediately available all the time. Auditing any login attempts is another security measure you can experiment with to determine its effectiveness for your business.
Track Potential Threats
Whenever a new patch or update is available for your programs, you should download and install them as soon as possible. However, you should only do this with trusted software vendors. Any applications and plugins you use can be turned against you if you leave them vulnerable, so test both your internal systems and external systems for any potential vulnerabilities that can lead to a data breach.
Eliminate Any Malware
Keep your antivirus software updated so it can recognize and detect any new or emerging threats to your cybersecurity infrastructure. Eliminate any malware on your system, and verify that it is gone.
Trust the Professionals at ARK Systems
Located in Columbia, Maryland, ARK Systems provides unsurpassed quality and excellence in the security industry, from system design all the way through to installation. We handle all aspects of security with local and remote locations. With over 30 years in the industry, ARK Systems is an experienced security contractor. Trust ARK to handle your most sensitive data storage, surveillance, and security solutions.
Contact ARK Systems at 1-800-995-0189 or click here today. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!