The amount, complexity, and relevance of the data that companies handle has increased exponentially. Today the data stored by organizations can contain information from buying and selling transactions, market analysis, ideas for future technological innovations, customer or employee information (salaries, health information) and more.

As a consequence, confidential information has become one of the most valuable assets of organizations and today, more than ever, it is necessary that it be protected throughout its life cycle without this altering the pace of the business.

In 2020, with the rise of remote work caused by the COVID-19 quarantine, many companies have been exposed more to security incidents and cases of hacks have continued to rise. With the new year just beginning, it’s a good time to consider what you can do to ensure your data is protected and your business is not the victim of a data breach.

Here are 10 tips to keep in mind to protect your company information in 2021:

1. Replace FTP Scripts

Many companies still exchange information with clients, partners, or other offices using scripts or custom-developed programs. However, it is not recommended to do so as these outdated methods are a threat to your organization’s security.

In regard to security, the first point to note is that the architecture of the FTP scripts used to send information is usually highly vulnerable. In addition, they do not offer enough control over the data, their traceability is lost, and they are not accepted by the main compliance regulations (PCI-DSS, SOX, and others).

We recommend that you stop using scripts and implement a Secure FTP solution that works with secure protocols that guarantee the confidentiality of the information is centrally managed, allows you to have full control and traceability of data movements for audits and compliance with regulations, automates processes, and more.

2. Encrypt Data in Transit and at Rest

Encryption helps the information that is stored and shared to keep its confidentiality (only accessible by those who must access it) and integrity (everything that is encrypted remains complete and unaltered). Furthermore, by encrypting your data, you ensure that even in the event of improper access, the information will not be readable. This is why encryption is essential to protect your data against cybersecurity threats, even more so because it must be used to comply with regulations or standards specific to each industry.

Although there are many encryption software’s, even some free ones like Open PGP Studio, it is necessary to know the different options and choose the right one for your specific case. File transfer software can encrypt data in transit, and digital rights management solutions can control and revoke document access, no matter where the data is located.

Do you need personalized advice on encryption and data security? You can contact an expert to help you analyze your specific case.

3. Use Secure Collaboration Tools Between Employees, Customers, and Partners

On a daily basis, it’s often necessary to share information with business partners and between employees located in remote locations; this situation has additionally increased with the rise of remote work caused by the pandemic.

To protect information, it is key that your company uses secure collaboration tools that are agile to use and allow you to perform key tasks for daily operations.

4. Avoid Common Mistakes When Sending Large Files

Many organizations share large files that are critical to the business and only when transfers get stuck or are “undeliverable” do they realize they have a problem. Or worse yet, employees continue to use unsafe methods, generally free, continuing to avoid the inevitable.

This is a serious error because in those cases the information can be easily compromised as it usually travels without being encrypted, secure protocols are not used, and the organization loses traceability of the data. In addition, if the file does not reach its destination due to its large size, users do not usually receive notifications. And if they do receive them, they must rerun the process again manually, which entails a notable loss of time.

5. Identify Compromised Devices on the Internal Network

Hackers are becoming increasingly dangerous and the advancement of technology seems to be working in their favor. Nowadays any device with an Internet connection can be hacked, from a small personal smartphone, to an MRI machine for institutional use. And thanks to that first step, attackers can breach your security infrastructure and access the corporate network to steal your information. Unfortunately, in 2021 we have seen that cyberattacks of this type have increased, with several multinational companies becoming victims of hacking.

It is essential for your company to identify with certainty compromised devices in the internal network, but that alone is not enough. To properly protect your data, we recommend you have an advanced network traffic inspection threat detection solution.

6. Inspect Your Data Content Using DLP Technology

Even if your company prioritizes access, user permissions, and encrypts the channels for sending information, you may still be exposed to certain sensitive information (such as credit card data, personal data, etc.) or files with ransomware being sent or received for your company. To avoid these situations, it is recommended to use Data Loss Prevention (DLP) technology which inspects the content of the information sent or received in your company, in order to intercept any data or active code that should not be sent.

7. Classify Your Data to Protect It

A very common mistake in all data protection strategies is to treat everyone the same way. Contrary to what may be believed, this complicates the processes and reduces their effectiveness. A salary listing is not the same as a marketing file or an annual sales estimate, so effective data management and protection begins with a good data classification. It must be known what types of data your company has, where it is hosted, and what level of criticality and business value it has in order to determine which ones should be protected, how to do it, and who should have access and control over them.

8. Create and Implement a Cybersecurity Program

If you do not have one in place yet, you should create and implement a cybersecurity program that will help you to not only protect your data, but any company assets that could be compromised by hackers.

A security program essentially establishes what must be done to understand particular assets (information and systems), what must be in place to take care of them, and how to act in case of an attack. It is very important that this program involves all the employees of the organization and is explained to them in a language that everyone can understand (beyond the technical details).

In addition to the specific recommendations that we have already made in the previous points, depending on the industry in which your company operates or the criticality of your information, it may be necessary to perform pen testing of your environment.

9. Try the Data Security Solutions You Want to Implement for Free

In times when budgets have been greatly shortened and resources diminished due to the pandemic, software purchases must be made meticulously. For this reason, we recommend that before deciding on a data security software, you download a free trial version of it that allows you to learn how to use it and analyze if it is the right one for you. You can also request a demo tailored to the needs of your company so that the software provider can help you analyze if it meets the functionalities you are looking for and meet your expectations.

10. Trust in a Comprehensive Cybersecurity Provider

One of the best tips to improve the security of an organization is to use compatible solutions, whose functionalities integrate well with each other. This will avoid headaches for IT teams and ensures that they can be implemented without stopping the business.

The best way to ensure this is by trusting a comprehensive provider of cybersecurity solutions that are capable of offering all the solutions you need according to your specific case. Furthermore, for those companies in Latin America and Spain, we know that it is very important to have a local presence and speak Spanish, without intermediaries.

Source: Boldon James