Given the enormous rise in the amount and frequency of data theft as a result of breaches, as well as the increasing threat of cyberattacks as a result of current conflicts, organizations throughout the world are emphasizing tactical and strategic measures to strengthen their data security. Here are six best practices you can put in place right now to strengthen your security posture and secure the sensitive personal data you are responsible for.
Understand your normal
The misuse of an authorized client’s credentials is one method by which threat actors get access to databases containing sensitive personal data. When this occurs, the outside attacker transforms into an insider threat.
Mitigating this risk necessitates profiling and monitoring the workload of information systems, as well as concentrating on known users’ access from unexpected sources (e.g., IP address, geographic location, application, etc.).
Identifying where and when a given user accesses data and what they access in a normal course of action could aid in the detection of a potential data breach; simply put, once you establish what are regular use parameters for authorized users, it becomes much easier to determine what abnormal, likely malicious access behavior looks like.
Multi-factor authentication is a simple technique to challenge potentially fraudulent use (MFA). This security procedure requires users to provide two kinds of identity, most typically an email address and evidence of ownership of a mobile phone.
Understand where your personal data resides
Almost 75% of all stolen data is sensitive personal information. Despite this, 54 percent of businesses claim they don’t know where their sensitive data is housed, and another 65 percent say they’ve accumulated so much data that they can’t organize or analyze it. Identifying sensitive information and monitoring access to it may aid in the detection of a potential data breach.
Use the least privilege principle
The Great Resignation has touched every sort of organization and, when paired with the pandemic’s two years and counting, has resulted in enormous staff turnover. The idea of least privilege is one of the most fundamental (and easiest) aspects of excellent cybersecurity: A user should only have access to data and systems that is required for their job.
Jobs are reformed as people leave organizations and are replaced, and organizations must reassess permitted access to data permissions. Identifying who has access to sensitive information and limiting rights to the bare minimum can help to prevent or mitigate data breaches.
Create and enforce a password policy
In one recent breach, fraudsters gained access and breached the system by using the simple word “Password.” Using such a weak password is like to handing over the keys to your home to an intruder. Organizations must maintain rigorous password standards and monitor log-in events to their assets to detect a potential data breach.
Be wary of deviations.
Learnings from Analyzing 100 One type of inside assailant described by Breaches is the “Opportunist,” who steals what they can and flees. This type of attacker will not look for other databases, will not attempt to access the organization’s network, will not attempt to perform novel attacks, and will just steal what they can and sell it to the highest bidder. An attacker who has obtained access to an existing user’s credentials to access data from a system may suddenly attempt to access 20x or 100x the “normal” number of records that the legitimate user accesses over a certain time period. Understanding regular user behavior in your systems and variations from it might aid in the detection of potential data breaches.
Reduce the time between breach and detection.
A good data security solution detects potential policy violations before they occur and helps to improve performance on a daily basis. Utilize your ability to obtain access into your data repositories, along with context-rich alerting and fast incident response procedures, to streamline threat containment and remediation operations. To shorten detection time and eliminate continuous data theft, any organization that saves data must have threat detection procedures in place.
Despite the fact that not all data breaches are the same, all firms must have a remedy in place.
is capable of implementing security best practices such as sensitive data detection, permission reduction, and learning regular behavior such as usual data type and usage.
Using all of the aforementioned strategies and more, Imperva data security solutions can assist you in preventing and detecting potential data breaches.