Data breaches: The dangers and consequences

This is the second article in a series on data breach risks. It covers issues such as regulatory compliance, costs, reputation loss, and other related topics. We will be discussing the different cyber threats and the possible consequences for businesses affected by data breaches in “Threats & Consequences”.

Data breaches are when an individual or group of individuals is allowed to view data that they aren’t authorized to. This is described in the “What You Should Know” article. They can also steal the data and make changes to it once they have it. The consequences of data theft can vary depending on what type of data is involved. They could destroy or corrupt databases, leak confidential information, or steal intellectual property. There may also be regulatory requirements that notify the affected and compensate them.

Bloomberg reports that data breaches increased by 40% in 2016 compared to 2015. These incidents can have severe consequences and may even result in a company losing its ability to do business. Businesses must identify and minimize their exposure to potential threats.

Data Breach Targets

Only business data can be made a target if it has any value to third parties. Different types of data can be more or less valuable to third party and pose different risks to businesses. These are the types of data that you will find:

Personally Identifiable information. This data includes contact information, social security numbers, birth dates, education, and other personal information.

Financial Information. This data includes bank account details, investment details, and expiry dates.

Health Information. This includes information about health conditions, prescription drugs and treatments, as well as medical records.

Intellectual Property. This includes product drawings, manuals, specifications and scientific formulas, as well as marketing texts and symbols.

Information on Competition. This information includes information on competitors, market studies and pricing information.

Legal Information. This includes documents regarding court cases that the company might be pursuing, legal opinions about business practices, merger-and-acquisition details, and regulatory rulings.

IT Security Data. This data includes user names, passwords, encryption keys and network structure.

These types of information are attractive to third parties who value them. You can sell personal, financial, and health information to use for fraud, marketing, and identity theft. You can sell intellectual property and use it to create products and services that are similar to your business.

Competitors can sell your information to use it against your plans. Leaked legal information could also be used to harm your legal position. Because it allows unauthorized parties to gain access all other types of information, data on IT security can be a valuable target.

Data Breach Threats

Your employees, suppliers and consultants can all pose threats to the various types of data. If your company stores data in the cloud, they can access your data via your network, external email accounts, mobile devices, and inside your organization. These threats are not being stopped by traditional perimeter protection.

Insiders can cause data protection to fail. Employees who are unhappy may leak sensitive information. Emails and malicious websites can be used by external individuals to install malware on employees’ computers. They can also get passwords and user names that way. Your cloud service supplier may have access to your cloud data, and employees can lose, hack or compromise email accounts and mobile devices. Companies must identify the risks associated with data breaches and develop solutions to reduce them.

Data Breach Consequences

Cybersecurity attacks can have serious and growing consequences for businesses. This is due in part to the increased regulatory burden of notifying the affected individuals. There are different requirements for notification and penalties for businesses that have suffered a data breach, depending on where they are located in the United States or Canada.

Customers who are the victims of a data breach must be identified and notified by companies. The regulations define what data must be notified after a breach, who must be notified and how notification must be done. They also define which authorities should be notified. Notification requirements are usually required for breaches that involve personal, financial or health data. However, the exact definitions may vary from one jurisdiction to another. International companies may have customers in multiple jurisdictions. They may need to comply with many requirements. This can lead to companies being considered an existential threat due to the high legal penalties, potential damages compensation and possible lawsuits.

Data breaches that involve other types of data could have a devastating impact on a company’s reputation and business position. Data breaches can also impact contractual obligations and could affect the sale of a company, such as what happened recently with Verizon’s purchase of Yahoo. Your business may not survive if your competitors learn your business strategies and can market similar products at a lower cost. That’s why you need to have a robust and effective data services Charleston SC.

Solutions to Reduce Risk

You can maintain your perimeter security and other protection measures, but you also need a data-centric solution to allow you to control who has access to specific files or data sets. This level of control can be achieved with encryption, but it must be the right type of encryption. You can restrict who can access a file or email by encrypting it properly. Even if your IT system is compromised and unauthorised individuals gain access, they won’t be able read the data. This prevents data breaches. This application will reduce data breach risk to acceptable levels, and protect your business against costly data breaches.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you need the help of professional It experts to assist you with your cybersecurity needs.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Charleston, SC 29407
843-418-4792
https://manageditservicescharleston.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston

Seven Ways to Ensure a Data Breach Does Not Happen to You

Millions, 143 million. The number of US consumers potentially affected by the recently announced credit services data breach is staggering. It’s nearly half the US population. And as a credit reporting service, this data includes names, addresses, financial histories, social security numbers, banking information, and even driver’s license numbers. It may take years to fully understand and resolve all of the potential personal and financial implications.

The data that was stolen in this attack is especially valuable. Credit cards are cheap and easy to replace, and subsequently have little resale value on the DarkNet. But the data targeted in this case is different. It includes everything a criminal enterprise would need to establish a lucrative identity theft operation, like the one that Fortinet’s FortiGuard team helped Interpol uncover last year in Nigeria. In similar cases that FortiGuard has followed, we have seen such data used for things ranging from identity theft to money laundering, and even the financing of terrorism.

For the company hit by this attack, the financial impact will be equally massive. Within hours of the announcement a class action lawsuit was filed. More will likely follow. Their reputation will also likely be affected, and banks and lending institutions that rely on – and pay for – their credit services may be reluctant to touch potentially corrupted information. There are already a number of cybercrime bills working their way through US legislation. Because this is a hot topic, elected officials are likely to be outraged and demand stricter regulations and oversight that could affect the entire industry. And consumers who may potentially end up paying billions for services to help them resolve identity theft issues are likely to hold the company accountable.

 

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Breaches like this often happen when network security is focused on the perimeter, but doesn’t adequately protect the network interior. Security professionals have long referred to such perimeter-focused security – whether at the physical edge of the network or data center, deployed to defend web-based services and applications, or protecting the cloud – as “hard and crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle.” In such a scenario, attackers who are able to crack the hard candy shell surrounding the data have free and often undetected access to the tasty nougat inside.

Meanwhile, in addition to wondering whether or not people were individually affected, the other question being asked in board rooms across the country today is what can organizations do - right now - to make sure this doesn’t happen to them? Here are seven critical places to start:

How To Prevent Data Breach

1. Prevent Compromise By Practicing Good Hygiene

Far too many organizations have neglected their basic patch and replace security hygiene. Networks are growing rapidly and span a variety of ecosystems, from IoT to the cloud. Establishing and maintaining an inventory of devices can be challenging. Given the number of successful attacks over the past few months that targeted vulnerabilities for which patches were readily available, and the millions of organizations that were affected as a result, regardless of how hard this may be, patching isn’t optional.

It is imperative that every organization establishes and maintains a formal patching and updating protocol. Ideally, this would be automated, tracked, and measured. In addition, a process needs to be implemented to identify and either replace or take offline those systems that can’t or that can no longer be patched.

2. Protect Your Network By Creating And Using Signatures

While new attacks are a real risk, most breaches are actually caused by attacks that have been around for weeks, months, or sometimes even years. In fact, the vast majority of attacks we see target known vulnerabilities for which a patch has been available for an average of three years. And many target vulnerabilities as much as ten years old. And because these vulnerabilities are known, attacks and exploits targeting those vulnerabilities can be detected using signatures. Signature-based detection tools allow you to quickly look for and block any attempted infiltration, or the execution of an exploit targeting known vulnerabilities.

Signature-based tools are also increasingly effective against complex issues like zero-patch environments, such as IoT and other interconnected devices that are increasingly being adopted by organizations and that have been shown to be highly vulnerable to attack.

3. Detect And Respond To Zero Day Threats By Using Behavior-Based Analysis

Of course, not all threats have a recognizable signature such as zero day threats. New sophisticated attacks utilize a number of techniques to circumvent protections and evade detection. Behavior-based security tools are designed to look for covert command & control systems, identify inappropriate or unexpected traffic or device behavior, disable things like zero-day malware variants via detonation chambers/sandboxing, and correlate data to identify and respond to advanced threats.

As attacks become more sophisticated, and attackers begin integrating things like AI to improve their ability to penetrate defenses while evading detection, security will need to continue to evolve as well. Advances in intent-based security, for example, will not only check and inspect data and applications crossing into the network for malware, but will provide deep inspection. They will look for patterns and then continuously monitor that traffic in order determine intent, allowing intelligent security systems to proactively intervene and thwart an attack before it has even begun.

4. Deploy Web Application Firewalls

While many attacks still leverage tried and true methods for infiltrating a network, such as email-based phishing or targeting known and unpatched vulnerabilities, many threats no longer enter the network through traditional avenues. Web-based attacks are increasingly common, often exploiting the exponential growth in applications – especially those designed to query and mine for information directly in the data center.

Because the demand for homegrown and customized web applications has grown so rapidly, many organizations simply do not have the time or resources to adequately test and harden the applications and servers they are deploying. An effective way to close that gap is by implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF). These security devices are specifically designed to provide deep, high performance inspection of web application traffic far beyond what is provided by traditional NGFW technology.

5. Leverage Threat Intelligence

Advanced threat intelligence enables organizations to shrink the time to detect threats and close the gap between detection and response. There are a number of threat feeds available that keep organizations up to date regarding the latest threat trends and detected exploits. The challenge is converting this data into usable intelligence and cross-correlating it with your local intelligence and infrastructure. And deploy tools such as SIEM and WAF technologies that can consume that data, convert it into actionable policies, and apply it to protecting your network.

At the same time, consider joining a local ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Centers), especially one designed for your industry or architecture, where you can receive relevant threat intelligence and share what you see with your industry peers.

6. Avoid Point Solutions

Given the rapid expansion of networks, their dynamic and elastic nature, and the shift from a single perimeter to dozens or even hundreds of potential access and data exchange points, the traditional security strategy of deploying point security devices or platforms at the edge of the network or data center is no longer adequate. Further, traditional point security technologies tend to be isolated, which means they can only see and respond to the threats that pass in front of them.

But given the nature of today’s advanced, multi-vector, and highly intelligent threats, security solutions need to be interconnected into a single, cohesive system that can span and adapt to elastic network architectures. This dynamic integration provides transparent visibility across the entirety of the network, which is critical because you can’t defend against a threat you can’t see. In addition, a system of integrated, orchestrated security solutions enables organizations to proactively and intelligently fight cyberattacks wherever they occur.

An integrated security framework, like the Fortinet Security Fabric, connects security tools so they can share and correlate information, and enables centralized orchestration, single pane of glass management, and consistent policy distribution. More importantly, it also enables a coordinated response to attacks, automatically hardens security and access points, isolates affected devices and malware, identifies vulnerable or compromised systems, and initiates forensic analysis and remediation.

7. Segment Your Network

Given the fluid nature of device access, and the wide-ranging flow of applications and data across many of today’s networks, it is more important than ever that you establish and maintain effective and secure network segmentation that prevents threats from spreading horizontally across your network. Organizations can dramatically improve their network protection by deploying Internal Network Segmentation Firewalls to prevent the proliferation of threats, regardless of whether they managed to breach the security perimeter or compromise an access point, or originated internally. ISFWs may sit in front of specific servers that contain valuable intellectual property, protect a set of user devices or web applications sitting in the cloud, or secure traffic moving between logical divisions of responsibility or lines of business inside an organization.

In the case of a data model where massive amounts of data are collected and correlated in a single environment, it is especially critical that segmentation controls be established that can detect threats that have managed to penetrate the perimeter of the data center and are now moving laterally through that environment. Without segmentation and detection tools in place, such threats are free to collect, corrupt, and exfiltrate data. Internal segmentation, micro segmentation, and controls that track and monitor things like behaviors and workflows are essential for today’s data-centric digital businesses.

While the scale of this data breach is alarming, the attack they suffered is not unique. Far too many organizations have adopted state of the art network designs and yet still rely on isolated second-generation security solutions and strategies to protect them. More than ever, security cannot be an afterthought. It requires planning, people, and processes combined with adaptive security technologies that can dynamically scale to today’s digital networks and automatically respond as a single, integrated system to address the advanced cyberthreats targeting them.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team of IT experts help set up the most effective cybersecurity strategies to keep the risk of data breaches at a minimum.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Charleston, SC 29407
843-418-4792
https://manageditservicescharleston.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Practices That Help Prevent A Data Breach

The best way to protect your company from the cost and nightmare of a data breach is to prevent them in the first place. But, before you can do that, you have to understand them first. Here is a guide that helps describe the cost and types of data breaches that you may encounter as a business owner and how you can prevent the incidents of data breaches from taking place.

What is a data breach and how does it happen?

A data breach can happen when a cybercriminal accesses sensitive information and data. These are very costly and may reach up to $3.16 million, not to mention the irreparable damage it will cause the company’s reputation. It will also cost time as it takes an average of 280 days to determine and contain the data breach.

There are many methods that you can take to stop the data breach from artificial intelligence to incident response preparedness. But, when you are running a small business, or just want how to prevent data breaches from taking place, there are a few things that you need to know.

 

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Physical actions – hackers can also get to your network through physical actions like stealing phones, laptops, paperwork, or even storage devices.

Social engineering – one good example is phishing wherein cybercriminals send infected emails that look like they came from legitimate companies so that hackers can get access to sensitive information.

Human error – data breaches are not always caused by malicious activities. Accidents could take place any time and in some cases an individual just leaves sensitive data in a place that’s not protected or perhaps accidentally sends it to the wrong individual or people.

How to prevent a data breach incident?

Educate your staff – one of the best ways to stop data breaches is by fighting ignorance. It’s crucial to educate your staff about the right methods of protecting data from becoming compromised. You could do this by helping your employees understand how you can make strong passwords, how often should passwords be changed, and by helping them detect, avoid, and report phishing as well as other suspicious cyber activities.

Make and update your procedures – come up with procedures that are linked to data security standards and make sure to update them on a regular basis.

Remote monitoring – offers 24/7 network monitoring. You can hire a managed IT services provider so that you don’t need to check up on your people all the time to monitor your network and systems for you.

Data backup and recovery – you should back up your data so that it can easily be recovered in case your information was deleted because of a server crash or natural disaster. So be sure to back up your data and hire experts that offer data recovery Charleston SC.

Protect physical data – protect all information including physical files. They must be stored in a location that is secured with restricted access to only those who require access to such data or files.

Update your security software – all your security software must be updated on a regular basis. These include anti-spyware, anti-virus, and firewalls.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team help protect your business against data breaches.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Charleston, SC 29407
843-418-4792
https://manageditservicescharleston.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence