In simple terms, a data breach is when an external force, be it an individual, bot, or a group of hackers, gets access to sensitive or personal information that a company holds. In modern business, a data breach can be the worst thing for a company; in fact, many businesses struggle to recover from a data breach, which is most devastating for small or new firms.
As a result of a data breach, a company may lose crucial financial information and details about their customers or have restricted access to their important documents. Plus, nsot only can a data breach impact the profits of a business, but if word of the breach gets out, it can also harm their reputation, impacting future sales and revenue.
It’s clear that a data breach is something that most businesses want to avoid, but what can be done to prevent data breaches? Here are a few things you can do that will work for companies and individuals – no matter the size of their business.
Use a VPN When Working on an Unsecured Network
Your data is most vulnerable when working on an unsecured network. This means that if you’re a remote worker and decide to work in a café when logged into their Wi-Fi, other people can connect to it and use it as a gateway to access your data.
To help prevent this from happening, you can use a VPN (a virtual private network) that connects your device to a different server. This makes it much harder for any hackers to access your data.
Although being mainly created for security, VPNs are also useful if you want to engage in content that might be geo-locked. If you select a server based in a different country, such as France, you’ll be able to access content only the French can get, such as French TV shows that only appear on French Netflix. There’s a lot of great geo-locked content that can be unlocked with a VPN.
Set Passwords and Permissions
To protect your documents, it’s a good idea to add an extra layer of authentication to ensure that only those who are allowed to access documents can do so. With Microsoft 365, you can easily set passwords for individual documents or folders, and you can also organize permissions so that you can select which people can access a file.
Furthermore, it can be tough to manage if you need to set permissions within a business, especially if there are many people. To help, you can use a company like www.avepoint.com to manage all the cloud security for your Microsoft 365.
Lock PCs
This may seem like a simple step; however, most data breaches happen within a business, typically from one staff member accessing someone else’s PC. To ensure that your documents are for your eyes only, lock your computers when you’re away from them – taking this precaution can help stop easily avoidable data breaches.
Conclusion
Data security is important for business. A breach can harm a company in big ways, sometimes to a point where it can never recover. However, use these tips to help keep your data and information safe, and you’ll minimize your chances of suffering a data breach.
