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Data security is one of the most important issues in today’s world. Your data or the customer data you store must be secured at the highest level. Failure to take care in securing this can result in a number of serious problems from data loss to having to pay compensation if a data leak results in losses for your customers. So no matter how much and what kind of data you store make sure it is secure and you will not lose it or anyone unauthorized access it. So find out how to protect and secure such data in the best way available.
How important is data security?
If you don’t yet appreciate the seriousness of the situation learn that about 90 percent of companies that have not implemented a data recovery plan go bankrupt – when they lose such data. Such a loss can be triggered either by hardware failure, employee error, malicious action by someone with access or a hacking attack. You should be prepared for any of these situations and have contingency plans ready to be implemented to restore data and return the system to normal operation. There is probably no company today that doesn’t keep their data somewhere, the loss of which would be extremely painful for them, or that wouldn’t just bankrupt the entire company. The organization CERT Polska (Computer Emergency Response Team) is noting more and more attacks on data collected by entities operating in Poland. It doesn’t matter here how big or how small your company is – attacks happen everywhere. So how do you take care of your data security? Find out by reading the following paragraphs.
What types of threats were most common in 2022?
Among data threats in 2022, data leaks and ransomware attacks were the biggest concerns. Both of these are huge threats. A data leak puts you at risk of losing customers or having to pay compensation, not to mention the loss of trust in your company that is an inevitable consequence of any leak. In the case of a ransomware attack, you may be able to recover your data, but it will certainly be very expensive. Whether you decide to pay the blackmailers, which we don’t recommend, or have a specialized company decrypt your data (although that’s unlikely to happen). Next in the ranking of threats are targeted attacks aimed right at you. Protecting against them is even more difficult, because someone is trying to search for your vulnerabilities here and strike right there. Next on the list are threats from your own employees, attacks at the hardware level and software vulnerabilities.
What risks are likely to increase in 2023?
The threat is sure to only increase, just as the amount and importance of data processing in what is probably already every type of business is growing. Experts warn that due to the international situation, attacks on critical infrastructure will certainly increase in 2023. Thus, all businesses and companies in strategic industries such as public transportation, liquid fuel and gas distribution, the energy market, the financial market or health care are particularly at risk. These attacks are extremely dangerous, because in addition to the loss of a specific company, they can cause panic and paralyze the operation of the entire country. The threat of a ‘killware’ attack, a variation of a ransomware attack that can threaten to kill, for example, patients in an attacked hospital, may increase in these cases. Ransomware attacks themselves will become more aggressive in 2023. Instead of encrypting data and demanding a ransom for decryption keys, threats to make data public will also become more common, which in many situations is many times more dangerous than the loss of data itself. Attacks called MFA Fatigue – an attempt to deal with multi-level security – may also become more common. Where, for example, logins need to be confirmed via a phone channel, criminals using previously stolen passwords and logins generate messages at different times so that the user eventually stops reading them only to automatically approve them.
Bet on cloud services
For most smaller, medium and even quite large companies, the best solution for ensuring data security is to use cloud services. A good provider of such services will take care of the operation of, for example, virtual VPS servers much better than you can yourself. It’s a good idea to bet on the services of specialized companies such as Kru.pl or ITH, which have the right equipment and professionals to take care of it. The cost of such a service is lower than keeping employees to take care of it yourself.
Remember strong passwords and their protection
Passwords are an extremely important matter. Therefore, you cannot afford to use weak passwords. Such passwords can be broken by specialists with great ease. A good password should contain at least 12 characters, among which will be both letters, numbers and special characters. It is also equally important to protect these passwords. There are still situations when someone in the company writes the password on the board above the desk and it can be suspected by unauthorized people. Such behavior must not happen, remember this and sensitize your employees to it. Equally important is the use of two-factor authentication, or 2FA – Two Factor Authentication. The need for a password or pin sent through an independent channel is a very strong security measure that is difficult for hackers to circumvent or take over. Gaining access to two messaging systems is many times less likely, which is why it is one of the strongest security features.
Be vigilant and don’t believe the fantastic bargains
This may be trite advice, but still many attacks are based on the simplest methods. These are, for example, emails with flashy titles ‘Claim your winnings’, ‘Package surcharge required’, ‘Last payment date’, or those with references to current events like the war in Ukraine or the COVID-19 outbreak in the title. When you receive large volumes of emails it is easy to automatically pick up and open such letters. They are often confusingly similar to e-mails received from various institutions and companies. Pay special attention to the lack of Polish tails (a instead of ą and so on), linguistic or grammatical errors, abbreviated links – where you can’t see the destination page you’ll be taken to, or the titling of the email using general phrases and not to you specifically. Since the number of such phishing attacks is huge, you still need to be vigilant. That’s why it’s so important to have a good antivirus program and keep it up to date, as well as updating any other software that might be used in an attack. If you get a suspicious email or SMS, you can report it using a special form on the CERT Polska website.
Take care of your software
There is no software in which there is no hole or weakness. That’s why new ways of attack are constantly being invented, and program developers are constantly improving them and introducing security patches. So be sure to update the programs themselves, as well as the operating system on which you run them. This is especially true of the antivirus program you use. In order for it to effectively protect you, it must be up-to-date – threats today can emerge at lightning speed, but just as often attackers use methods that have long been learned and any up-to-date antivirus program can handle them.
Take care of your employees’ training
The weakest link in a system is often the human being, who inherently makes mistakes and can be influenced by psychological tricks and traps. So be sure to provide adequate training for all employees who have access to your company’s IT systems. The best security measures may not help if someone simply suspects or gets the password and login from the user who has them, whether through fraud or through his or her cavalier approach to secrecy. A trained employee won’t make simple mistakes, and will alert others to potential attacks and attempts to take over accounts or access data.
To make sure your data is safe, only use proven service providers that are established in the market. It is with such companies that your data will be safe and you will gain peace of mind and confidence in the operation of your business. Such trusted companies include, for example, kru.pl, which offers hosting, domains, SSL certificates and virtual VPS servers. Without SSL certificates, your website will not be perceived as secure and this will adversely affect the perception of it by potential customers and clients.
It’s also worth your time to learn about ITH‘s offerings, which include symmetric Internet access, web hosting, VPNs and cloud services.