Mistake 1 – Not Encrypting Data

Encryption of data is a vital step in protecting data from hackers. And, one of the easiest ways to prevent data loss. Let’s face it, nobody wants to think about losing their data or credit cards, so it’s important you consider encryption. But, when was the last time you read up on the ins and outs of encryption? It might take a little bit of effort to find a good encryption solution, but you should make it a priority. Don’t have the time? Ask us and our team of experts will be more than happy to assist.

Mistake 2 – Not Patching Software

As threats become more sophisticated, malware and vulnerabilities become better understood. But cyber security measures have not kept up with this rapid evolution. Even in today’s hyper-connected world, we still need security measures that are easy for a business to put in place, but still, be secure, and, work across many platforms. In addition, being able to identify emerging threats quickly and remediate them proactively is paramount. The easiest way to secure many environments at once is to keep your operating systems and software patched and up to date. When left unpatched, any small change, like a new virus or bug can cripple your entire enterprise.

Mistake 3 – Not Monitoring for Threats

Cyber Security is no longer something of the dark ages. The companies that invest the time and money to create an effective program have already become overnight successes. They have increased customer confidence, decreased risk, and hopefully averted disaster. Yet despite this, so many companies today still spend more time defending their network, than actually monitoring for new threats. As businesses, many do not consider cyber threats a priority, yet in reality, they are simply the cost of doing business. The right cyber security program should track every aspect of your business to identify the threats in your environment, proactively prevent attacks, and protect your assets from falling into the wrong hands.

Mistake 4 – Not Using Multi-Factor Authentication

This is the term given to a range of procedures which need a customer to present identification to access their account. These include SMS codes, authentication emails or even an MFA app. But, despite using the same technology, they are not always the same. This is one of the easiest and most effective solutions in protecting your customers’ data. Because you need to enter your one-time code to access a business’s accounts, this also applies to those outside of your network. When you call your bank they ask you to verify your account. This is a form of customer facing multi-factor authentication. Methods like this can protect you and your customers from ever having to worry about who can get access to their data.

Mistake 5 – Not Understanding the Risk

Technology is advancing at an incredible rate, and companies that lack an understanding of how to protect data, end up doing the complete opposite. An organisation that owns and protects its data and has planned the detection of and response to a breach will be in a far better position than those that do not. Understand that risk management is a multi-phase process. By taking the time to understand the value of your data and the data of those who interact with you, you can begin to build a comprehensive plan to protect it. There are three major elements to any plan: physical, operational and cybersecurity. Physical protection – are the physical systems that carry information. These are things like electronic filing cabinets, server rooms and communication systems. Operational protection – is the plans, processes, and procedures you have in place around your data and team. Cyber Security protection – are the tools, the software and the hardware tracking your data both inside and outside of your environment.

Equifax settle for $US700 million for their 2017 data breach!

Has IT ever told you data security is important? For more than 20 years we have been hearing how important encryption will be for data and why it will benefit companies not just from a privacy point of view, but also for a security.

Governments around the world have been slowly waking up to the ever-increasing threat, largely due to the increase in breaches of people’s personally identifiable information. These breaches have increased identity fraud and theft, they have been known to put lives in danger and sadly, in many cases, have been met with toothless threats and a punishment of “just don’t do it again!”.

Thankfully, in the last 3 years, with input from lobbying groups and industry bodies, we have seen the creation and implementation of GDPR (in Europe) and the NDB Scheme (in Australia) to combat this very real risk. These measures and guidelines have given government bodies a very real ability to deliver harsher punishments to organisations found to be handling our data in ways that would be considered risky or that put our personal information at threat.

This week the first of these cases has finally been tested in the best of ways and resulted in a big win for us all. Equifax, the global credit monitoring organisation agreed to pay a settlement of $US700 million which stemmed from a 2017 data breach that exposed the information of over 150 million people. This was one of the largest identified data breaches in history and the largest at the time by an organisation.

At Ambient iT we welcome such a heavy punishment and look forward to this new environment where our data is considered with the appropriate respect and value it deserves. If you are worried that you may not have the appropriate measures in place to protect you or your clients data, or you simply want the peace of mind knowing that you have done the best you can, get in touch with our team and we will work with you to help keep your data protected and secure.