Why is data protection Important?

Nowadays, The digital technology has been around everyone’s life. In fact, we can say, It has been a part of our lives. Every damn thing has a record of information and it is never the small one, the records are on a large scale. This digitization plays an important role in the world. No place is without records of information or digitization.

But as we say everything comes with consequences. The digitization has the same thing with it - Consequences.

In digitization, the cyberattacks and hackers are like the Black Hole. 

Again with the cyber attacks, the records of an organization are also increasing in order of the information of clients and customers. The organization must be sure of the information kept by them about the clients and their customers. They must ensure the data security and privacy are their priorities to protect against costly breaches.

The origin of the data breaches:

The truth is that many of the data breaches can be avoided. The major ways the data breaches happen are:

External Obtrusion:

The popular survey which studied the breaches which involved the personal information, the survey actually says, that 39 percent of the breaches are caused by the external means. This is the traditional method of hacking and getting access to the system from outside. This external obtrusion can happen by getting access to personal credentials, hacking the personal device connected to the network and finding the loopholes in the security of an app.

Employees:

30 percent of data breaches are caused by the employee's action, whether accidentally or maliciously. Spoofing can be a result of giving access to the hackers by the employees. These situations can be prevented. By educating the employees about spoofing, they can have the knowledge of what can happen with some small wrong action taken by them.

The survey also says the insider threat can be due to unhappy employees, chances of moving the different company, and having some financial crises. Companies and management should realize that insider threat is a reality.

Stolen or Lost Devices and Documents:

The same survey says 7 percent data breaches are due to the stolen or lost devices and other 9 percent are due to stolen, lost or misplaced documents. Among them, some are caused accidentally and others are planned by hackers to get data access. For an example, its easier to steal a laptop then to hack a database. So, there is a risk whenever the employee carries the device outside the office. In fact, often the small group of people is affected by the data breach because of their features of the data protection systems. Because of this, sometimes the results are in big issues which may lead to the company paying fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Social Engineering and Fraud:

8 percent of the data breaches are the result of Social Engineering and fraud. Social Engineering is the method of deceiving the people to share their credentials and it is used by hackers to get access to these credentials.

So now we dive into the definition of data Security...

What is Data Security?

So, why is data security important to everyone? Have you ever given a thought to this question? Let's discuss it. 

Many people have this misconception that a large scale organization, government or the businesses only get attacked by the cyber-criminals. But this is not the case. Who knows you can be the next target to the cyber-attack. To get this prevented there are many tools and technologies to secure your personal credentials like the antivirus, firewalls, encryptions, two-factor authentication, software patches, updates, etc.

Usually, common users get targeted for their credit card access, banking details, and passwords.

Cybersecurity should be thoroughly and logically for everyone, whether it is a small scale or large scale, individual or organization. Over 400 billion USD per year is the cost of these cyber crimes according to the survey held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Needless to say, Cyber-crimes are getting bigger and bigger with time and record.

How can one get affected with the cyber attack?

Nobody wants to get affected by these cyber-crimes. But there are many ways, one can get affected. These ways can be - spoofing attack, malware attack, Ransomeware attack, man-in-the-middle attack, etc.

So, How can you avoid these types of attack?

To protect yourself from hackers, here are some practices you need to start practicing from today. Remember, awareness is your security.

• Never click or open the spam, phishing or malicious emails. Always check the link before opening the attachment.
• Don’t fall to be a prey for like “ iPhone XS Max at just $20”, or something like"Congratulations! You won a car. Open attachment to claim now."
• Do not download any untrusted or pirated app or software.
• Do not download fake security software.
• Prefer only antivirus or firewall to protect your data.
• Before making any online payments or typing any credentials, check the HTTPs. Do not use the site if it seems to be unprotected.
• Use two-way authentication method.
• Do not share any kind of personal and sensitive data with strangers.

So, now you know why it is important to get the data secure. If you have any other tips to add in the list then let me know by commenting in the below section.