Chances are, every single person who reads this article has experienced a type of data breach at least once: a phishing email that looked like a late bill fee that led to identity theft, an accidental email sent including proprietary company or customer data, a parent calling to ask if they should send money to a prince abroad (after the fact), or an open backpack that leads to the physical theft of a mobile device.
Since the dawn of digital, data breaches have become ubiquitous, cross-industry, department-agnostic occurrences that can inflict serious financial losses and reputational damage on those who suffer them—including the loss of value-defining intellectual property. These breaches occur in many different circumstances, from security system vulnerabilities like weak security practices and unevolved policies to inadequate access controls and even simple, unintended human error.
14 Ways to Prevent Data Breaches
Cyber threats continue to evolve, and businesses must do the same. Our guide highlights 14 essential methods your organization can use to prevent data breaches. Each strategy focuses on a specific aspect of a holistic cybersecurity system. Implementing one or a few may get your company closer to real digital security. Still, a concerted effort to deploy these practices will significantly bolster the security posture against unauthorized access inside and outside your business.
1. Implement Strong Access Controls
Robust access controls are fundamental to data protection: this is digital security 101 in this era of hybrid and remote workforces. Protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access and potential breaches starts with a proper multi-factor authentication (MFA) approach. This means a user must provide two or more verification factors for access. Typical MFA inputs include a password – and often both a strong password policy and a password manager – and a security token or a biometric verification such as fingerprint or facial recognition.
For more advanced security systems, role-based access controls (RBAC) ensure users have the minimum level of access only as related to their core jobs. Why is this important? Forrester Research commented recently that companies using RBAC had a 55% reduction in unauthorized access incidents. Indeed, RBAC reduces breach risk by limiting access to sensitive data and systems.
Couple this with regular user access privilege reviews – periodic audits to identify and revoke unnecessary permissions – to create a more predictable access control system for staff and security teams.
2. Encrypt Data at Rest and in Transit
Encrypting your company’s data, wherever it is stored and however it moves, can be daunting. However, encryption ensures that sensitive information remains unreadable (and thus protected) without a specific key. Robust encryption algorithms start with an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and a unique 256-bit key.
But don’t stop there: encrypting data during transmission is just as important. Are you familiar with the concept of transport layer security (TLS)? TLS is commonly used to encrypt data as it moves between clients and servers, which prevents interception by bad actors. Think of financial transactions or PII exchanges: these data have significant value.
Encryption protocols like TLS keep company data secure in transit, preventing potential breaches. A 2023 survey conducted by Cybersecurity Ventures found that companies employing robust encryption methods experienced a 40% reduction in data breach attacks.
3. Regularly Update and Patch Systems
Cybercriminals frequently exploit outdated software as unauthorized persons to access internal business networks and information. How do you combat this? With a robust patch management process that includes regular updates to minimize exploitation risk. Utilizing automated patch management tools, which can scan systems for missing patches, deploy updates, and even generate detailed, triaged reports, can be very helpful for streamlining to timely updates and reducing IT workloads when implemented efficiently.
If you are still not convinced, consider the 2017 Equifax data breach caused by a failure to patch a known vulnerability. 147 million user accounts suffered from that breach!
4. Use Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools
Data loss prevention (DLP) tools are an option for companies that want to protect their data from unauthorized users and sensitive data transfer. At their most basic, DLP solutions identify and classify sensitive organizational data and monitor it in real time to reduce the time to incident response. A good DLP tool automatically tracks and visualizes data flows so system admins can see when an unusual pattern may indicate the exfiltration or mishandling of sensitive data.
DLP tools also enforce security policies in the context of user behavior and regulatory requirements – which companies often overlook or underestimate regarding the impact/cost of effects. A great DLP solution provides detailed reports to specific stakeholders and analytics that naturally lead to actionable insights defined by the organization. These tools are an easy-to-implement way to avoid breaches, operational stops and prevent reputation damage.
5. Conduct Regular Security Assessments
Conducting regular security risk assessments is an obvious suggestion, but many organizations do not treat this tactic seriously enough. In 2023, Gartner offered a simple insight: organizations that conducted regular security risk assessments experienced 50% fewer successful cyberattacks relative to those companies that didn’t.
These regular assessments must focus on vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. Vulnerability scanning fundamentally detects flaws in your security systems and ideally prioritizes swift remediation. Penetration testing, conducted by hackers for hire who have experience poking at security systems, simulates a range of real-world attacks to uncover vulnerabilities that automated scans might miss.
With a deeper understanding of potential threats, the business can adapt before a ransomware attack causes damage, offering invaluable insights into the effectiveness of existing security measures. Specifically, penetration testing should be carried out annually at a minimum or whenever the security team deploys significant changes to the network or applications.
6. Set Up an Insider Risk Program
Insider threats can be incredibly tricky to detect and address. No company wants to think its employees could be a malicious insider threat to the business, particularly in the context of critically valuable intellectual property. But those employees need legitimate access to systems and data to do their jobs properly. So, companies must architect appropriate insider risk programs—coherently designed and communicated to employees and system admins—to avoid the potential for insider threats.
Where does insider risk mitigation start? Essential user activity monitoring means acquiring and refreshing clear views of user behavior and related analytics from baseline and anomaly perspectives. This allows for accurate cybersecurity audits to detect suspicious behavior that then becomes input to advanced policies and an overall evolution of security infrastructure that anticipates changes in the threat environment.
Monitoring and detection also lead to accurate, consistent employee training. Educating employees about the risks of insider threats and encouraging them to report suspicious behavior is proven to help prevent insider threat incidents before they escalate.
7. Implement Data Backup and Recovery Mechanisms
If your business operations are suspended, you cannot serve your customers. This is the foundation of business continuity, starting with a data backup strategy. Data backup must include consistent, frequent backups of all vital organizational data and the secure storage of this data. Whereas offsite (off-premise) storage protects backups from physical damage or malware attacks, cloud solutions are plentiful and offer scalability and additional security measures.
Next, consider a disaster recovery plan and the following two principles. Create detailed procedures for restoring backups and checking that critical systems operate as expected. Schedule disaster recovery plan tests and poke at potential weaknesses to highlight any adjustments or policies needing emphasis. Backup and recovery are ultimately about proactive protection.
8. Develop and Enforce Security Policies
Guiding employee behavior through security practices is a must in the context of breach prevention. Start with an acceptable use policy (AUP) to define how your organization identifies and uses data so that employees know what is permissible and what is not. Then, consider an incident response plan (IRP) to outline specific response procedures and coordination, including steps for identification, containment, eradication, and recovery from a range of breach incidents.
Additionally, create and implement governance for remote access – critical in a hybrid workforce model to reduce the risk of unauthorized access. This policy should specify security measures surrounding any remote access application or touchpoint within the corporate network, like virtual private networks (VPNs) and multi-factor authentication (as discussed above).
9. Educate and Train Employees
Employee education is one of any security system’s least emphasized but most important aspects. Often treated as a low-level compliance item, employee training is, in fact, vital to your cybersecurity strategy. Security training programs teach employees how to recognize and respond to potential threats.
At some point, one of your employees, potentially even an executive, will click the wrong CTA button on an email phishing attack. A standard prevention method is phishing simulations. These exercises test employees’ ability to identify phishing attempts, help identify those who need additional training, and reinforce the importance of vigilance.
Finally, ensure any educational training also covers topics such as identifying suspicious emails (crucial), using strong passwords (and avoiding weak passwords), and protecting sensitive company information in all relevant circumstances.
10. Secure Mobile Devices
Mobile devices contain a lot of sensitive personal data. When used in work contexts, they also accumulate sensitive work and organizational data that can be vulnerable to breaches. Luckily, various mobile device management (MDM) solutions in the marketplace can help enforce established internal security policies easily.
Simply put, mobile device management tools encrypt data on mobile devices to protect them from unauthorized access. This includes the data stored on the mobile phone and any data transmitted to and from the phone because data in transit is also susceptible to attack. MDM tools generally feature basic device configuration and remote data wiping, which is a critical feature in case a physical device is lost or stolen.
11. Monitor Network Activity
For any organization that believes in proactively managing suspicious behavior, whether internal threats or external bad actors, monitoring network activity—and specifically suspicious activity—must be part of its comprehensive security strategy. Start by designing an intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS) to control malicious activity in real-time. IDPS systems automatically analyze network traffic for malicious behavior signals like common attack signatures and malicious links and react to potential threats with blocks or real-time alerts.
Next, consider a security information and event management (SIEM) system. SIEM is now a ubiquitous industry term but not always a ubiquitous security system tool. SIEM systems effectively aggregate and analyze logs from all tagged sources to view network activity comprehensively. SIEM tools are also excellent for event correlation across systems. When set up correctly, SIEM systems automatically alert system admins with event details, like the scope and source of a brute force attack and protocol recommendations.
12. Implement Third-Party Risk Management
Third-party risk management applies to your third-party vendors and partners and fundamentally involves regular, structured risk assessments for both. Why do this? Conducting thorough vendor risk assessments helps identify and mitigate outside vulnerabilities, like those within your supply chain or partner sales network. The last thing your company needs is a leak of intellectual property or customer lists to an unknown portion of your supply chain or vendor network.
These assessments should evaluate third-party security practices, policies, and relevant industry compliance status. An easy way to establish this is at the contract level. Use a standardized and legally reviewed template to bake in contractual obligations for data security for all vendors, including definitions for security gaps, how to resolve them, and timelines for resolution before a contractual issue arises.
This ensures that all your related third parties use the same consistent framework, reducing the dollar and time cost of those third-party reviews. These contracts should strongly consider requirements surrounding data protection, incident response, regulatory compliance, and the accountability of vendors who breach those requirements.
13. Regularly Test and Update Incident Response Plans
Like some previous items discussed, incident response plans require regular, structured testing and updating. These plans change as the digital environment evolves, so updates are inevitable. Testing and redesign before an incident is better than because of one!
Start with the classic tabletop exercise, simulations of relevant security incidents – including physical security – that allows your team to practice responses and iterate improvements along the entire system. These exercises should include the security team, employees, line managers, and executives so that everyone understands roles and accountability during an actual incident -like a fire drill – and can act precisely to mitigate the damage as a team.
Updating those incident response plans based on tabletop lessons comes next. Whatever your stakeholders, particularly the security experts, learn during the tabletops should be inputs that refine incident procedures and overall company security policy. Regular schedule updates reflect strict attention to the larger security threat landscape’s constant change—whether that be various attack vectors, technological changes, or regulatory cycles.
14. Implement Network Segmentation
Network segmentation is a powerful, sophisticated cybersecurity strategy approach. It is literally what it sounds like: the separation of critical network assets from less critical ones. Network segmentation divides a whole network into isolated parts, each equipped with its own security controls, protocols, and policies. This approach is highly effective at limiting the impact of security breaches, as attackers cannot quickly move around your company’s network should they gain access. Thus, segmentation is a proactive breach containment.
There are a few fundamental ways to segment your network. Start by implementing firewalls, virtual LANs (VLANs), and access control lists (ACLs). This combination will enforce strict traffic rules and policies while allowing a more targeted security control system to grow.
Consider that isolating critical IT infrastructure should consider regulatory priorities: financial services businesses like banks must prioritize customer account data first and always.
If you are still not convinced, a 2023 Gartner report showed that companies utilizing network segmentation experienced a 35% decrease in breach-related costs. This is a solid reminder that investing in a breach prevention strategy now can produce material financial savings later.
FAQs
How can data security breaches be prevented?
Data security breaches can be prevented by implementing a comprehensive security framework with strong access controls, encryption, and regular security audits. Employee training on data handling best practices and the use of data loss prevention (DLP) software can further mitigate risks. Keeping systems and software up-to-date with the latest security patches is crucial in preventing breaches.
How do you stop a data breach?
The first step to stop a data breach is to identify and contain the breach by isolating affected systems and cutting off unauthorized access. Next, assess the damage and gather evidence to determine the scope and cause of the breach. Finally, necessary remediation measures, such as patching vulnerabilities, resetting passwords, and notifying affected parties, must be implemented while reviewing and updating security policies and procedures to prevent future breaches.
What are the solutions for data breaches?
Solutions for data breaches include implementing robust access controls, encrypting sensitive data, and regularly monitoring for suspicious activities. Data loss prevention (DLP) software can help detect and prevent unauthorized data exfiltration, while employee training on data security best practices can reduce the risk of human error. Incident response plans should also be in place to ensure prompt and effective action during a breach.
What are the four common causes of data breaches?
- Weak or stolen credentials, such as passwords or access keys
- Malware attacks, including ransomware and spyware
- Human error, such as accidental disclosure or falling for phishing scams
- Insider threats, including malicious employees or contractors who misuse their access to sensitive data. By understanding these common causes, organizations can take targeted steps to mitigate the risk of data breaches.
Conclusion
Implementing these 14 strategies will not be easy. Luckily, digital solutions encapsulate some or all of the above within the platform and wrap-around services, including expert consulting from design to maintenance.
Any (every) organization should consider how to review, purchase, and deploy one of those solutions to level up against data breach threats: these tools significantly reduce data breach risk and help frame each of the above-suggested tactics as part of a holistic security system.
Whether securing connected devices and monitoring user behavior and network activity, executing third-party reviews to mitigate vendor risk, or creating an insider risk program to manage unintentional employee error, these practices collectively enhance an organization’s security posture.
