Data breaches continue to be a common threat to individuals, businesses, and organizations alike. While some industries, such as healthcare, financial, or legal, are at a higher risk of a data breach attack, it has severe consequences on businesses of all nature. In fact, the global average cost of a data breach event in 2024 was reported at USD 4.88 million. Cybercriminals have developed complicated techniques to leverage gaps in security infrastructure to gain access to sensitive information and interrupt business operations. Businesses will face significant challenges until they can prevent data breaches.
This blog will explore how data breaches occur and some of the most effective data breach prevention strategies.
A data breach exposes sensitive, protected, or confidential information to unauthorized personnel. The files in such a breach are shared or viewed without permission.
A data breach might be an intentional act of stealing information from an organization or an individual or may occur accidentally. For instance, an employee may mistakenly expose the organization’s sensitive data or knowingly steal it to share it with or sell it to a third party. Often, hackers steal sensitive information from corporate databases.
Regardless of what causes a data breach, the stolen information is highly confidential and sensitive and can be used to make a profit or facilitate a larger attack. Usually, a data breach includes a loss or theft of sensitive and confidential information such as personal health data (2024 Healthcare ransomware attacks were the most expensive for 14 years in a row.), login credentials for email or social media accounts, bank account details, or credit card details.
It is imperative for businesses to be updated on data breach 2024 prevention strategies.
A common misconception is that a data breach happens via an outsider attack. However, that is not entirely true. While recent cyber attacks 2024 for data breaches were common — where the attacker targets an individual, organization, or multiple organizations — insider attacks also occur.
A data breach exploits an organization’s security infrastructure gap, often combined with technical vulnerabilities and human error. Below are some common ways in which a data breach occurs and the specific processes involved in executing them:
Accidental insider threats happen when an employee erroneously exposes a database to the public Internet, allowing access to sensitive information. 68% of data breaches in 2024 involved a non-malicious human element. Sharing confidential files through unverified cloud services or email can also lead to data exposure.
An organization’s personnel has access to sensitive information and data, which adds to the risk of a malicious insider. These personnel may exploit their access to facilitate a data breach. Malicious insiders enable a data breach by planting malware, deriving data from cloud storage or email, or using their access to turn off security controls.
Malicious outsiders are the most common actors behind high-profile data breaches, including the various telecom data breaches 2024. These attackers use various methods, such as phishing (using convincing emails to trick employees into sharing sensitive information), malware (planting malicious software to extract sensitive data), and automated tools to identify credentials and password combinations.
Losing or stealing a physical device also leads to data breaches. These devices, such as laptops, external drives, and smartphones, often contain easily accessible confidential and sensitive data. Such data is unencrypted and can be easily stolen from devices, and saved or weak credentials can also be accessed easily.
Social engineering uses human psychology to convince people to divulge sensitive information. For instance, in phishing, attackers may impersonate the organization’s executives and lure the employees into sharing confidential information. They may also offer something valuable in exchange for such information.
Preventing data breaches relies heavily on organizations having a robust and up-to-date security infrastructure. Organizations that reflect a very high level of noncompliance incur an average cost of $5.05 million—12.6% over average. Additionally, employees must take a strategic approach toward cybersecurity and know how to manage a data breach. Below are the top data breach prevention strategies for businesses in 2024:
Weak passwords continue to be one of the most common causes of data breaches. They enable cyber attackers to identify user credentials and access sensitive information stored on corporate databases. Individuals are also a common target in this scenario as they often reuse or recycle their old passwords for various websites, emails, and social media accounts. Using strong passwords and a password manager makes it harder for cybercriminals to steal them.
Passwords are inherently weak. Users and organizations should never rely on them alone. Instead, MFA forces individuals to prove their identity as an extra layer of security after entering their login credentials. This increases the likelihood of the user being who they claim to be. Further, it prevents cyber attackers from gaining access to sensitive information from individual accounts and corporate networks, even if they manage to steal the user’s credentials.
Keeping software up-to-date and using the latest versions reduces the chances of cybercriminals exploiting vulnerabilities in the security infrastructure. Individuals and organizations must ensure that automatic updates are switched on to eliminate the risk of delayed updation. Whenever prompted, it is crucial to update and patch software.
IT cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common, and attacks from cybercriminals are growing in complexity and sophistication. Approximately 75% of the increase in breach costs is due to loss of business due to the breach and fixing the damage afterward. A response plan is necessary to deal with the worst that can happen, such as a leaked government warning attack highlighting vulnerabilities that could lead to a breach.
Businesses and organizations must identify the person(s) responsible for orchestrating the data breach attack so that they can be reported to the right authorities. They should also have a plan for how to proceed from there. This includes identifying what data was stolen, strengthening and changing passwords, and continuously monitoring systems for suspicious or malicious activity.
Training your employees on cybersecurity and its best practices fosters a culture of being conscious about sensitive information and confidentiality. This enhances their role in tackling data breaches. Despite the effectiveness of employee training as a data breach prevention strategy, it remains highly underutilized.
A robust employee training program on cybersecurity should enable employees to recognize threats to security, such as phishing attempts. It should also include interactive methods and incentives to promote a proactive approach to best practices for maintaining cybersecurity and leverage simulations and practical exercises to improve readiness and response rates in real-time.
Encrypted data is of little use to hackers. A security policy detailing data encryption must apply to all internal data, whether at rest or in motion. Such a policy must also cover data stored in devices such as laptops, smartphones, and external drives. If data is shared via emails internally, those emails must be encrypted as well. Encrypting data prevents hackers from gaining access to sensitive information and disrupts their attack.
Data breaches are becoming increasingly common and pose tremendous risks to businesses. It is crucial to prevent them and doing so requires a comprehensive strategy including employee education and technological solutions. If businesses commit to implementing these data breach prevention measures, they can minimize risk, improve their customers’ trust, and protect sensitive information. Employees must follow all cybersecurity measures and not take any actions that put them or the organization at risk of losing sensitive information.
Imagine IT is a leading provider of IT support services for small businesses. It offers a cybersecurity solution your business can trust. Imagine IT’s next-gen cybersecurity solution, the Security Shield, protects your entire organization. The Security Shield is designed around the 6 areas of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST).
Contact Imagine IT today to schedule a cybersecurity consultation.
MAIN OFFICE
© 2024 Imagine IT Website by eMod, LLC
