The world has progressed to an era where information reigns supreme. The power of information has been boosted with the emergence of the internet, mobile phones, and computer systems (ranging from supercomputers to PCs). You won’t be wrong to say that the world runs on and operates with information.
However, the prominence of information isn’t void of problems. You must have heard of cyber predators such as hackers stealing sensitive information from organizations or individuals. This is a disturbing occurrence. What’s worse is that it has become more common now. As a result, data security has become a priority for many individuals, companies, and organizations out there.
Let’s delve into ways to enhance your data security and make you less vulnerable and virtually invisible to cyber predators lurking on the web.
Don’t Neglect Insider Threats
When the subject of data security comes up, it’s easy and normal to assume that the protection should focus on keeping hackers, fraudsters, and other cyber predators out. What we fail to recognize is that the threat can be dual-faced. Those who threaten your data security have become smarter now.
When direct attacks don’t work again, they use a subtle method – introduce a trojan horse into your system. In most cases, it could be an email attachment that will introduce malware into your system when you click on it.
Insider threats have become more effective than direct external attacks because the target is anticipating the latter. By paying attention to both, you’ve significantly improved your data security.
Conduct Periodic Tests on Your Security
This is one of the most effective ways to ensure that your data is not hacked or leaked away. Installing an antivirus is not enough because they don’t provide you with sufficient security against cyber predators.
What we recommend is hiring professionals to conduct a security audit on your computer system. This will reveal the weaknesses in your system’s security, and you’ll know the areas to work on. In many instances, these areas are the least you expected.
Use Strong Passwords
This is the most common mistake in data security, and it’s made by individuals and companies. To date, many parties resort to relaxed password policies – using a combination that’s easy to remember and easier to input. Unfortunately, they use these passwords to protect critical and valuable information. To cyber predators, your easy-to-remember and easy-to-input passwords are easy to hack and very predictable.
Now, you may be asking what a weak password is. Good examples are passwords made up of a single character (only numbers or only letters) or something sentimental to you. For the latter, it could be your son or daughter’s birthday/name, your wedding date, your birthday, or something like that. Any decent hacker can scour your social media profiles and get such information. We recommend using something that will give them a headache.
To make a password strong, use a random combination of multiple characters. Mix uppercase and lowercase letters with punctuation marks and numbers. It’s way harder to hack ‘s&fG1!dx$’ than ‘Jason’ or ‘123456789.’
Use Onetime Notes
Since one-time notes came to the fore, there has been no going back. It presents a secure way for you to send a message that can’t stay in the digital space long enough to get in the wrong hands.
So, it’s important to learn how to use onetime notes. This software helps you send confidential or highly sensitive information digitally. Once the receiver gets the information on it, it self-destructs.
This minimizes the risk of that information getting into the hands of cyber predators. This innovative measure has been a big sigh of relief to people who deal with sensitive information, and it can be useful to you. It’s one of the most effective ways to enhance your data security because it focuses on securing the data itself while others secure the surroundings.
Get Rid of Redundant Information
It’s easy for you to ignore old data when data security comes to mind. After all, what use are they? It’s not that simple. Industries such as healthcare, defense, finance, and even the public sector deal with sensitive information every day.
This means they’re privy to tons of data. With time, some of this information will become obsolete. However, that doesn’t make them useless. Some information can still do damage when in the wrong hands. For instance, certain government secrets can be damaging to national security. Imagine that data in the hands of a spy. Have you now seen why you should secure even redundant information?
You’ll just employ a different method – shredding, erasing, or modifying the data till it becomes unrecognizable.
Upgrade Your Programs and Applications Regularly
Oh! This is common knowledge, but perhaps you need some emphasis to drive it home. Even mobile phone users know that updating their applications or phone software when due strengthens their data security.
The same applies to PC users. It’s one of the best ways to protect your data. Your system’s security is as good as its latest update. As technology progresses, it’s important to keep your devices in tune with these changes to make them less vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Device Encryption
This is very important. You have to ensure that your device transmits information in an encrypted form to avoid interception by hackers or scammers. Your device should also be configured to store data in an encrypted format.
Channel More Resources to Cyber-Security
Let’s face it. If you want your company’s data to be more secure, take the cybersecurity department more seriously. This includes channeling more funds and time to the work that goes on there, they should be equipped with state-of-the-art tools.
The department’s head should also have the highest level of security clearance and be included in board meetings. The more prominent the cybersecurity department is, the more secure your data will be.
To conclude, sensitize your employees on data security. Interestingly, this is the simplest but arguably the most effective measure to take. The reason for that is you can utilize other measures, but if your employees are clueless about data security, your efforts will be in vain.
Conduct a company-wide sensitization on data security. Educate your employees on habits they need to adopt to protect the firm’s data. This includes using strong passwords, not clicking on just any email attachment they see, updating apps regularly, and using one-time notes to transmit information.