Data security is a rising issue according to 68% of business leaders.
In 2021, there were 68% more data breaches than in 2020. In the first quarter of 2022, there were 14% more breaches than Q1 2021.
Enterprises are experiencing significant setbacks due to these breaches with 10% paying $1,000,000 or more in ransoms tied to data security breaches yearly.
Data breaches detract from a business’s bottom line. Revenue loss, a damaged reputation, fines for private data leakage—all of those and more can happen when your data is not sufficiently protected.
Despite being a top priority for enterprises, it takes an average of 212 days to detect a data breach and an additional 75 days to contain it. As in many cases, prevention is better than a cure when it comes to data security.
In this article, we will explore what data security is, the countermeasures taken against attack vectors, and why it is important for your business to be covered in all avenues of defense. We will also identify how to utilize data security tools such as WinZip® Enterprise that help prevent data breaches by securing sensitive files.
What Is Data Security and What Does It Protect You From?
The process of providing security throughout an organization to protect against data loss and prevent unauthorized access to data repositories is the core of enterprise data security.
Security procedures should be viewed holistically because they are only as strong as their weakest link. A business that is a bastion of cyber defenses can still have its hard drives stolen; a datacenter under lock and key still must secure its network transmissions against interception.
Attack vectors for cyber security breaches and their associated countermeasures come in many forms, many of which overlap and influence each other. They include the following:
Phishing. Over one-third of data breaches involve phishing, which is a form of fraud where a bad actor presents themselves as a reputable individual for the purpose of distributing malicious material that could cause breaches. Links and email attachments can be used to trick victims into distributing private information or installing malware, spyware, or ransomware.
Preventative tools such as email filtering help by recognizing fake domains and flagging the message as suspicious.Unauthorized access. This type of breach occurs when an authorized user’s login information is exposed through means such as phishing or clever guesswork because the password is too weak.
Breaches caused by hacking are attributed to leveraged credentials 61% of the time. Multi-factor authentification (MFA), an additional layer of verification, helps prevent compromised logins from causing breaches.Negligence. Misconfigured and outdated functionalities that have not been maintained can open the door for cybercriminals who know what to look for. For example, running outdated software with known exploits can be used as initial attack vectors, unsecured public-facing applications could be used to find private information or phish users with fake redirects, and unencrypted connections may allow for data interception.
Keeping your software up to date, restricting redirects in your production environment except for those that are whitelisted, and using a virtual private network (VPN) to secure your network connections are just a few solutions for security issues caused by negligence.
Physical theft.Unencrypted files offer no protection from criminals capable of stealing your laptop, phone, or hard drives. This includes unencrypted data backups, which could be compromised in many of the same ways as actively used data.
Encrypting your sensitive data reduces risk in the event of a physical breach, yet 53% of companies have over 1,000 sensitive files unencrypted and accessible by all their employees. It is also prudent to employ some degree of physical security to prevent criminals from stealing hardware or information from key locations, such as wiring compartments, server rooms, and data storage locations.
How Data Breaches Affect Your Enterprise
Trust and respect are the currency that companies pay with when security breaches happen. After a breach occurs, 83% of consumers claim they will discontinue transactions at the affected business for several months. Those that will never return account for 21% of consumers.
Sensitive files on the cloud are left unencrypted by 83% of organizations, which offers no mitigation against breaches or data leaks. Clouds are breached at a rate of 70% per year, often due to stolen login information.
Compromised credentials are responsible for 20% of breaches, yet only 57% of businesses worldwide employ basic precautions such as MFA.
The average cost of a typical data breach among all organizations was $4.24 million in 2021. Companies do not fully recover once the breach is contained, however, as they underperform on the stock market by 15% for as long as three years after a public data security failure.
It bears remembering that security is not just protection from malicious actors, but also defense against operational disruption and downtime. Regular data backups are instrumental in maintaining data availability.
Data loss can be catastrophic for businesses and is not impossible when data breaches occur, especially when ransomware is involved. Companies that experienced severe data loss do not recover 94% of the time.
For these reasons, a strong and consistent approach to all aspects of data security is of incredible importance for enterprises.
WinZip Enterprise Enables Enterprise Data Security
Enterprises must manage data security across many different repositories simultaneously. To protect your organization’s data in-transit and at-rest, WinZip Enterprise offers secure backup, encryption, and file transfer features.
This solution offers many encryption methods, including backups encoded with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit or 256-bit keys. This enables you to customize protection levels based on your company’s needs.
File sharing, backups, and security policies are easily implemented and enforced thanks to WinZip Enterprise’s centralized and customizable IT controls. WinZip Enterprise uses Windows Information Protection (WIP) to enable IT professionals to customize their security policies to keep users and their sensitive information secure.
Compliance with the military-grade encryption standard FIPS means government agencies and businesses looking for a high degree of security can protect themselves from hackers and cybercriminals.
Although the tools used to protect data are complex, users will not have to strain themselves to encrypt their files with WinZip Enterprise. Simply choose the preferred level of encryption, create a password, and your business’s files will be protected.