What is DATA And Why Does It Need Protecting?

In today’s digital age, “DATA” is one of the most valuable assets. But what exactly is data? 

At its core, data is information that is collected, physically or digitally by computers. This information can take many forms, such as text, numbers, images, and videos. It can be as simple as a list of names and addresses or as complex as a detailed financial report.

The Importance of Data Protection

With the increasing reliance on digital information, protecting data has become more crucial than ever. Here are a few reasons why data protection is essential:

  1. Privacy: Personal data, such as social security numbers, medical records, and financial information, needs to be safeguarded to protect individuals’ privacy. Unauthorized access to this data can lead to identity theft and other privacy breaches.

  2. Security: Businesses and organizations store vast amounts of sensitive information, including trade secrets, customer data, and proprietary information. Protecting this data is vital to prevent cyberattacks, data breaches, and other security threats.

  3. Compliance: Many industries are subject to regulations that mandate the protection of certain types of data. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union requires companies to protect the personal data of EU citizens.

  4. Trust: Customers and clients trust businesses to handle their data responsibly. A data breach can damage a company’s reputation and erode trust, leading to loss of customers and revenue.

  5. Operational Continuity: Data is critical for the day-to-day operations of businesses. Protecting data ensures that companies can continue to operate smoothly, even in the event of a cyberattack or other data loss incidents

Why Data Needs Protecting

 

Within six months of a successful cyber attack, 60% of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are forced to close down, primarily due to data inaccessibility or damage to their reputation.

50% of UK businesses have experienced some sort of cyber attack in the last 12 months.

 90% of successful attacks start with a phishing email. 

What Are The Threats

These are the most common threats:

Malware: Malicious software designed to harm or exploit any programmable device, service, or network. Examples include viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, and spyware

Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks: Attacks that aim to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services

Spoofing: Deceiving a system or user by masquerading as a legitimate entity through falsified data

Identity-Based Attacks: Attacks that involve stealing or misusing someone’s identity to gain unauthorized access to systems or data

Code Injection Attacks: Inserting malicious code into a program to alter its execution

Supply Chain Attacks: Targeting less-secure elements in the supply chain to compromise a system

Social Engineering Attacks: Manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information

Insider Threats: Threats posed by individuals within the organization who misuse their access

DNS Tunneling: Exploiting the Domain Name System (DNS) to transfer data in a way that bypasses network security measures

IoT-Based Attacks: Targeting Internet of Things (IoT) devices to gain unauthorized access or control

AI-Powered Attacks: Using artificial intelligence to enhance the effectiveness of cyber attacks

Phishing: Fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information by disguising as a trustworthy entity in electronic communications

We may know what a phishing email is, but are you also aware of

Spear Phishing: Targeted attacks aimed at specific individuals or organizations, often using personalized information to make the attack more convincing

Whaling: A type of spear phishing that targets high-profile individuals such as executives or senior officials, often to steal sensitive information or financial assets

Vishing: Voice phishing, where attackers use phone calls to trick individuals into revealing personal information

Smishing: SMS phishing, where attackers use text messages to deceive individuals into providing confidential information

Clone Phishing: Attackers create a nearly identical copy of a legitimate email that the victim has previously received, but with malicious links or attachments

Pharming: Redirecting users from legitimate websites to fraudulent ones to steal sensitive information

Angler Phishing: Using fake customer service accounts on social media to trick individuals into providing personal information

How to Protect Data

Protecting data involves implementing a strategy that includes a combination of technical and organizational measures. 

Here are some best practices:

  1. Internal Policies: Having well defined internal policies that staff can access. This may include an acceptable usage policy and a data breach policy.
  2. Encryption: Encrypting data makes it unreadable to unauthorized users.
  3. Access Controls: Limiting access to data ensures that only authorized individuals can view or modify it.
  4. Regular Backups: Regularly backing up data helps to recover it in case of loss or corruption.
  5. Employee Training: Educating employees about data protection practices can prevent accidental data breaches.
  6. Security Software: Using antivirus software, firewalls, and other security tools can help protect data from cyber threats.

How IT Lifeline Can Help.

Data Protection is an ongoing commitment to keeping data safe. Ensuring Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability is the longer term goal.

Our approach is placing our customers on the right path to ensure success, which we achieve with the Microsoft cloud.  Once on this platform, we work with our clients to enhance and improve their security footprint.

“Make the connections before a cyber event.  The more we about your environment, the quicker we can triage and remediate.  Our conversations would be a whole lot different if you are looking for support during a cyber event.” (Mark Stone)

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