Introduction
Data breaches have become a regular occurrence in the digital age, where so much is conducted online. If there aren’t any proper security measures online, then it’s effortless for cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to your data. This is concerning for businesses and individuals. Companies have a huge price to pay regarding data breaches and cyberattacks. It negatively impacts their reputation and leads to losing the trust of their employees and customers. It also compromises the company’s confidential and sensitive data. If sensitive data and documents get into the wrong hands, it can have severe repercussions for companies.
Therefore, companies must take the proper steps to ensure their data is not compromised. If you’re a business owner looking to take your privacy to the next level or figure out how a large company can enhance their privacy and keep their data safe and secure, this is your guide. We’ll walk you through all the steps you need to take to enhance your security with our suggested top-notch solutions. So, if you’re ready, let us get started.
Why is it important that businesses protect their data?
There are various reasons why companies strive to protect their data. Let’s go over the primary reasons:
1) Confidentiality
Large companies often have to deal with sensitive and confidential data, including financial data., trade secrets, customer data, and intellectual property. If a malicious actor gains unauthorized access to this data, it will have severe consequences for companies, which can impact them financially and otherwise.
2) Regulatory compliance
Many industries are obligated to follow specific rules and regulations when it comes to the handling and protection of data. The rise of data breaches and the customer’s demands for more privacy has led to governments introducing and implementing new regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Large companies have to comply with these rules and regulations. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in legal consequences, fines, and damage to their reputation.
3) Employee information protection
Large companies have a database of confidential employee information, which includes their Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which includes their name, contact number, email, house address, and other confidential details. Protecting this data develops trust in their employees that the company is actively working towards keeping their data safe.
4) Competitive advantage
Data is one of the significant strategic assets for large companies. Protecting proprietary information and intellectual property is crucial to gain a competitive advantage. Customers also put a lot of trust in companies regarding their data. When companies commit to data protection and privacy, it builds customer trust and loyalty.
5) Financial impact
As you can imagine, companies can incur a substantial financial loss due to data breaches. Beyond potential fines and legal costs, companies might face costs for remediation, credit monitoring for affected individuals, and a decline in business operations due to their damaged reputation.
What steps to companies take to protect their data?
Here are some practical steps that large companies can implement today to protect and safeguard their confidential data from getting into the wrong hands. Let’s go over them:
1) Invest in a secure VPN
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is an effective privacy tool that masks your IP address and encrypts your internet traffic, making it difficult for malicious actors and third parties to decipher and intercept your data. That’s why it’s a good idea for large companies to opt for Business VPN. A business VPN allows large organizations to create a secure, encrypted connection over the internet and enables employees to access the company’s network remotely. It offers secure remote access, data encryption, and the ability for companies to bypass geolocation restrictions.
2) Knowing where their data is & where it’s going
The first step towards adequate data protection is to know where your data is going. You should know where your data is stored and where it’s going. By identifying their data lifecycle and the security risks, companies can make more sensible and informed decisions regarding protecting their data. Large organizations often use Data Loss Prevention Tools, like Endpoint Protector, to scan the company’s networks for sensitive data. They can delete or encrypt it if they find it in unauthorized locations.
3) Employee training & awareness
Large organizations should train their employees regarding the best security practices, which include implementing strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, recognizing phishing attempts, and overall data security awareness. Human errors are a huge factor in data breaches, so employees should be trained accordingly because it’s necessary to safeguard the company’s data.
4) Data encryption
Encrypting the company’s data ensures that even if malicious actors or third parties somehow gain unauthorized access to your data, they cannot understand or decipher it without the appropriate decryption keys. Encryption has become an essential component when it comes to protecting sensitive customer data and securing confidential documents. Since remote work has seen a rise since the pandemic, with many companies choosing to work remotely, there are growing concerns about devices leaving company networks’ safety. However, when you implement data encryption, confidential and sensitive company data remains protected, so even if there’s a breach, your sensitive company documents cannot be deciphered by any malicious actor or third party.
5) Firewalls & network security
Large companies should use firewalls to monitor and control the network traffic. Network security measures can help protect company data against unauthorized access and online threats by creating a barrier between the internal and external networks.
Wrapping up
Large companies have a huge responsibility to safeguard their confidential data, not only for themselves and their reputation but also because of the employee and customer data that they have. Suppose they don’t adopt adequate security measures. In that case, all of their sensitive data can get compromised, which affects their reputation and makes them lose trust with their employees and customers. This guide outlines the quickest and most effective ways to take their data and privacy to the next level. After implementing these security measures, large companies will not have to worry about data breaches and external threats.
DISCLAIMER – “Views Expressed Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of any other author, agency, organization, employer or company, including NEO CYMED PUBLISHING LIMITED, which is the publishing company performing under the name Cyprus-Mail…more
