If your organization has poor data security, it can lead to vulnerabilities that often have serious ramifications. These include data breaches where data is compromised by malicious actors.
This can also lead to damaged business reputations and legal consequences if industry-specific data security regulations aren’t in place and monitored properly.
To avoid these consequences from happening, it is important to prioritize data security. Understanding what the top data security threats are and how to prevent them will help you secure your data.
Coeo understands how important data security is and has helped thousands of organizations improve their data security to help avoid data breaches and data from being compromised.
By the end of this article, you will understand the top data security threats and the ways to prevent them.
What are the top data security threats?
There are many different types of data security threats that organizations should be aware of. By understanding these threats, your organization can improve your data security to avoid them.
The top data security threats include:
Internal threats
Internal threats occur from inside your organization when employees who have access to data within the network misuse the access.
Employees who do not comply with their organization’s security strategy can operate in ways that lead to insider threats when data ends up in the hands of unauthorized users.
Some examples of this include employees clicking on malicious links in emails, sharing login information with other employees, or inadvertently emailing company information or other sensitive data to users outside of the company network.
Malware
Viruses and other forms of malware aim to corrupt the data and network of organizations.
Malware can enter your network and spread across the entire network if it is passed on destroying the data and network infrastructure in the process.
It is important to prevent malware but, should it penetrate your network, detect and get rid of it quickly so it damages as little data as possible.
Downloading malicious software
Malicious software like malware can destroy network infrastructure and data stored within the network.
Certain websites house malicious software that downloads to your network when an employee accesses the website.
In most cases, the user does not have to click to download the software, the website simply has to be accessed for the software to be downloaded.
Cybercriminals rely on malicious software downloads to steal and collect sensitive data within the network.
Malicious software downloaded to a device can also result in devices being compromised and destroyed.
Phishing attacks
Phishing attacks occur when malicious actors send emails from fake email addresses that look like they are from legitimate sources.
These fake emails typically ask for login information, personal information, or payment information to get sensitive data.
Some examples of these may be emails that look like they’re from eBay asking for updated payment information, fake emails from PayPal asking to confirm login information, or even emails pretending to be from a colleague asking for personal information such as your Social Security number.
These phishing attacks do a good job of disguising the email address by using a name that appears legitimate. However, when you click on the actual email address, it typically has nothing to do with who they want you to think it is from.
Ransomware
Ransomware occurs when an attacker gains access to a device or network and prevents you from accessing that device or data until a monetary demand is paid to the attacker.
Historically, most ransomware attacks targeted a single computer. Today, most ransomware attacks target multiple computers at one time attempting to extort larger sums of money from organizations that are more capable of paying the ransom.
Additionally, some automated ransomware attacks are sophisticated enough to shuffle through a company’s documents and, based on company financial results, set a specific price based on the organization’s financial strength.
If you would like to speak with our team to learn more about data security or ask any questions you may have you can schedule an appointment.
Some ways to prevent these data security threats
Now you understand some of the top data security threats that your organization should be aware of. However, it is also important that you understand how to prevent these threats so you can avoid the consequences of them.
To begin with, it is important that your organization has a security strategy in place that your entire company is aware of and where everyone understands their role ensuring it’s executed properly.
Making employees and colleagues aware of the importance of data security and the organization’s strategy will make everyone more mindful of these threats to help prevent attackers from accessing your network.
It is important to train employees in security awareness so they can avoid phishing emails and sharing login information.
One of the easiest and fastest ways to secure data is to set up multi-factor authentication.
Multi-factor authentication requires a user to authenticate their device in two or more ways which can include SMS or phone call verification, PIN code, or email verification.
Multi-factor authentication enables organizations to confirm that the end user logging into the network is verified and who they say they are to prevent malicious actors from accessing the device or the network and compromising data.
Additionally, implementing antivirus protection software to improve data security will enable your organization to prevent, detect, and remove threats such as software viruses and malware from your computer systems.
Lastly, implementing zero-trust security such as ZTNA and enhancing cloud-based security by using solutions such as SASE will help prevent ransomware and other attacks from negatively affecting your network.
Avoiding data security threats in your organization
Now you understand what the top data security threats are and the ways to prevent them. This will increase awareness and help employees play an important role in identifying threats and ensuring they are well-prepared to prevent them from happening.
If your organization has poor data security, it can result in sensitive data being exposed. This often leads to data breaches where data is compromised by unauthorized users.
Compromised data can lead to a damaged business reputation and a loss of customers and revenue. Additionally, these consequences could lead to legal ramifications if any regulations placed on your industry are violated.
Because of this, it is important that your organization prioritizes data security to avoid data breaches and the resulting consequences. Understanding what the top data security threats are and how to address them will help improve security to keep your data safe.
Coeo understands how important reliable data security is and has helped thousands of organizations improve their security to avoid data breaches and sensitive data being compromised and ensure their data is safe.
We want you to understand the top data security threats and how to address them so you can better secure your data and prevent data breaches.
If you would like to speak with our team to learn more about data security or ask any questions you may have you can schedule an appointment.
Now that you understand the top data security threats and how to prevent them, check out this article to understand what a data protection strategy is:
