It has been six months since the global health crisis invoked government-mandated “shelter-in-place.” Yet many organizations that scrambled to standup hundreds of work-from-home offices are…
This is especially true for organizations not up-to-date with data protection solutions and standards. And if you want your customers trusting you again, there’s only one solution that will get you there before it’s too late: Managed Security Services.
According to a recent Harvard Business Review report, 88% of executives name large-scale cybersecurity exploits that expose corporate or personal data as a significant contributor to the decline in trust.
As the world grows more digital, customer trust gets harder to earn. Gone are the days where business could be settled with a verbal “yes” or even a handshake. Now, you have personally-identifiable information (PII) shared from customer to business with no knowledge of the security standards or data protection solutions in place.
The consequences aren’t good for business.
Every few months, another top brand discloses a massive security breach in which sensitive customer information was exposed. What happens to the business? It’s always the same: Customer abandonment, revenue loss and rapidly declining trust in their brand.
So, what can your business do to prepare? Let’s take a look.
To satisfy customer data protection needs, businesses need to cover all bases with a multi-layer approach. Layers of defense remove single points of failure in order to fully protect customer data no matter where it lives – the cloud, on-premises or applications. Coupled with government regulations and strict data management policies, organizations can deliver the customer experience that is demanded with today’s data protection standards.
The evolving nature of the threat landscape means that traditional methods of security are no longer the standard in eliminating risk and data protection. Firewalls and antivirus alone can’t fortify the data storing castle. The industry is requiring proactive managed security solutions with integrated threat intelligence that can identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, risks and threat actors that endanger defenses. A combination of preventative and detective solutions can eliminate entry points for threat actors to compromise. It can also increase the time of detection of a breach so organizations can stop the spread of an attack.
In some cases, threat actors are able to disguise themselves as trusted employees and business partners to trick fellow staffers in divulging customer information. Phishing attempts are becoming more sophisticated and human error often is the culprit. Phishing emails trick 23% recipients to open them and 11% of recipients open malicious attachments that could spread viruses. Continuous training on spotting a phishing attempt combined with strict email security, like adding [external] tags from incoming, non-domain emails, can help employees keep systems protected.
The same can be said for data encrypting attacks like ransomware. Ransomware has become one of the largest threats that companies face. If customer data is locked and you are willing to pay the ransom, how do you truly know the threat actor will grant you access back to the data? Or, that a copy of sensitive data is not being sold to other threat actors? Managed security services like managed SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) can help organizations detect malicious viruses and threats before total damage is done on customer data.
Data backup and disaster recovery solutions are another way that organizations are safeguarding customer data. Not only can it have your employees up and running in a cloud environment quickly after a data disaster, it offers data management capabilities that can simplify the complexities of compliance like HIPAA and GDPR. With features like search and discovery, mandates that require deletion and retention policies are made simple by combining disparate data silos into a singular view. Get access to all your data, no matter where it is located to simplify data governance.
Looking beyond headlines and big breaches, business trust has also eroded due to the mismanagement of data within organizations. Between fake news, fudged-facts and scandals, as well as companies like Facebook releasing data without consent, customers are no longer giving information out as willingly. Setting strict data policies, especially ones that align with compliance standards, and being transparent can help organizations align expectations on how data is used.
There is no quick fix to the trust and privacy issues the current threat landscape is creating. But organizations can still take steps to better protect their customers. The first is ensuring the security environment is properly managed. Whether that means in-house or outsourcing, a more proactively managed approach will help stop threat actors in their tracks and strengthen data protection everywhere you need it.
Mike Penn joined Magna5 as Senior Content Developer. His role is to bring to life stories that inspire or inject clarity in how managed services and emerging trends can be applied to help organizations operate better and more efficiently.
Webinars are not immune to cyber attacks. Here are steps you can take to prevent cyber attacks from occurring during webinars.
Developing a disaster recovery plan is essential to protecting your business from the unexpected. But many businesses fail to account for critical areas during their planning …
Cyberbullying is growing … but you can fight back. Here are five tips to protect your business reputation and brand while keeping cyber trolls at bay.
This is especially true for organizations not up-to-date with data protection solutions and standards. And if you want your customers trusting you again, there’s only one solution that will get you there before it’s too late: Managed Security Services.
According to a recent Harvard Business Review report, 88% of executives name large-scale cybersecurity exploits that expose corporate or personal data as a significant contributor to the decline in trust.
As the world grows more digital, customer trust gets harder to earn. Gone are the days where business could be settled with a verbal “yes” or even a handshake. Now, you have personally-identifiable information (PII) shared from customer to business with no knowledge of the security standards or data protection solutions in place.
The consequences aren’t good for business.
Every few months, another top brand discloses a massive security breach in which sensitive customer information was exposed. What happens to the business? It’s always the same: Customer abandonment, revenue loss and rapidly declining trust in their brand.
So, what can your business do to prepare? Let’s take a look.
To satisfy customer data protection needs, businesses need to cover all bases with a multi-layer approach. Layers of defense remove single points of failure in order to fully protect customer data no matter where it lives – the cloud, on-premises or applications. Coupled with government regulations and strict data management policies, organizations can deliver the customer experience that is demanded with today’s data protection standards.
The evolving nature of the threat landscape means that traditional methods of security are no longer the standard in eliminating risk and data protection. Firewalls and antivirus alone can’t fortify the data storing castle. The industry is requiring proactive managed security solutions with integrated threat intelligence that can identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, risks and threat actors that endanger defenses. A combination of preventative and detective solutions can eliminate entry points for threat actors to compromise. It can also increase the time of detection of a breach so organizations can stop the spread of an attack.
In some cases, threat actors are able to disguise themselves as trusted employees and business partners to trick fellow staffers in divulging customer information. Phishing attempts are becoming more sophisticated and human error often is the culprit. Phishing emails trick 23% recipients to open them and 11% of recipients open malicious attachments that could spread viruses. Continuous training on spotting a phishing attempt combined with strict email security, like adding [external] tags from incoming, non-domain emails, can help employees keep systems protected.
The same can be said for data encrypting attacks like ransomware. Ransomware has become one of the largest threats that companies face. If customer data is locked and you are willing to pay the ransom, how do you truly know the threat actor will grant you access back to the data? Or, that a copy of sensitive data is not being sold to other threat actors? Managed security services like managed SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) can help organizations detect malicious viruses and threats before total damage is done on customer data.
Data backup and disaster recovery solutions are another way that organizations are safeguarding customer data. Not only can it have your employees up and running in a cloud environment quickly after a data disaster, it offers data management capabilities that can simplify the complexities of compliance like HIPAA and GDPR. With features like search and discovery, mandates that require deletion and retention policies are made simple by combining disparate data silos into a singular view. Get access to all your data, no matter where it is located to simplify data governance.
Looking beyond headlines and big breaches, business trust has also eroded due to the mismanagement of data within organizations. Between fake news, fudged-facts and scandals, as well as companies like Facebook releasing data without consent, customers are no longer giving information out as willingly. Setting strict data policies, especially ones that align with compliance standards, and being transparent can help organizations align expectations on how data is used.
There is no quick fix to the trust and privacy issues the current threat landscape is creating. But organizations can still take steps to better protect their customers. The first is ensuring the security environment is properly managed. Whether that means in-house or outsourcing, a more proactively managed approach will help stop threat actors in their tracks and strengthen data protection everywhere you need it.
Mike Penn joined Magna5 as Senior Content Developer. His role is to bring to life stories that inspire or inject clarity in how managed services and emerging trends can be applied to help organizations operate better and more efficiently.
Webinars are not immune to cyber attacks. Here are steps you can take to prevent cyber attacks from occurring during webinars.
Developing a disaster recovery plan is essential to protecting your business from the unexpected. But many businesses fail to account for critical areas during their planning …
Cyberbullying is growing … but you can fight back. Here are five tips to protect your business reputation and brand while keeping cyber trolls at bay.
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