10 Best Practices for Preventing a Data Breach

A contemporary cyber threat actor can be as clever and inconspicuous as the most unprepared organizations allow them to be. With technological advances moving at a sprint pace, companies can no longer financially nor reputationally afford to wait by the sidelines for a breach to happen. Preventing a data breach requires a comprehensive and proactive approach to cybersecurity. 

Understanding the Evolving Tactics of Cyber Threat Actors

Remembering that data breaches can occur through a wide variety of methods is key to staying ahead and exploiting each one requires different skills. For example, common techniques used are phishing attacks. In the assortment of email phishing, which is most common, spear-phishing is more targeted on specific individuals and whaling, a high-profile spear attack.

Malware attacks are often heard of in conjunction with ransomware or viruses; when a threat actor encrypts a victim’s data and demands a ransom for the decryption key causing mass disruption access to critical information. Viruses are dangerous as they can cause widespread harm across systems, potentially leading to data corruption or theft.  Another technique used by cyber criminals is social engineering. By creating a fabricated scenario to trick people into sharing confidential information by impersonating a trusted entity; this often takes more research on the criminal’s end.   

10 Best Practices for Preventing a Data Breach:

While there is a long list of ways for cyber criminals to gain unauthorized access to confidential information, there are plenty of practical and applicable ways to stay ahead and strengthen secure posture while keeping your business’s data, employees, customers and brand safe.

1. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

By requiring users to provide two or more forms of verification, e.g., password and/or text code, this strengthens a layer of access to sensitive systems and data, supplying an organization with a significantly more complex access control system.

2. Enhance Network Security

With the ability to deploy and configure firewalls to filter traffic and block unauthorized access, to enabling network segmentation and limiting the spread of potential breaches, this is a critical component of data breach prevention.

3. Incident Response Plan

Create and regularly update a plan for how a security incident would be responded to and managed. Performing regular drills to test the effectiveness of the IR plan will help ensure it will work if and when the time comes to put into action.

4. Secure Physical Access

With advanced technology controls, like key cards, biometric scans and security personnel, an organization can stay a step ahead with applying measures to a physical data space, which can often pose as a vulnerable target.

5. Maintain Software and System Updates

By avoiding regular software and system updates an organization could be giving a threat actor a wide window of opportunity to plan an easy attack. Regularly update operating systems, applications and software to address any unknown or known vulnerabilities. To help ensure updates aren’t missed, implement an automated tool where possible for timely applications.

6. Endpoint Protection

Using strong encryption methods to protect data stored on systems and transmitted over networks can quickly help enhance security posture.  Utilizing antivirus/anti-malware software and endpoint detection response (EDR) can be a very effective approach in helping thwart a cyber breach. EDR is able to monitor and respond to threats on endpoints in real-time on individual devices.

7. Security Audits and Vulnerability Assessments

By conducting regular penetration tests to identify and address potential vulnerabilities, an organization can internally patch or fix any gaps in their systems before an attack happens. Take advantage of automated tools that scan systems and networks looking for weaknesses.

8. Regular Security Training

Involving employees on an ongoing basis in educational security best practices, such as training them on the slam method, phishing exercises, tests and awareness training and safe internet usage helps reinforce internal policies. This is also a great opportunity to conduct phishing email tests to make certain the trainings are successful. With regular trainings in place, businesses are able to foster an environment where leadership is actively involved in promoting cybersecurity initiatives and employees feel comfortable reporting concerns or suspicious activities.

9. Back-up Critical Data

Performing regular encrypted back-ups of critical data and systems helps ensure that in case of a data breach attack that the most important items can be restored quickly, allowing a business to get back up and running with little downtime.

10. Monitor and Analyze Network Traffic

Using Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems to collect, analyze and correlate security data from across the network, in addition to maintaining and reviewing network logs for any suspicious activities or anomalies, can be an effective tool for ongoing monitoring of a successful cybersecurity plan.

Key Takeaways

By combining and integrating these breach prevention strategies into an organization’s overarching cybersecurity plan, you are building a significantly stronger defense and improving overall security posture against crafty threat actors. 

Having the ability to continuously validate the effectiveness of an organization’s security controls while optimizing SecOps and an incident response plan is what can make the difference between being prepared and being blindsided. 

To learn more about how Cymulate can help your organization be prepared for a cyber attack through a Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) request a demo here: