The Top 10 Most Common Cause of Data Breach
The trend of data breaches across the world continues to rise year on year. As a business owner it is imperative that you have the right IT support company London to help your capital business protect itself from cyberattack and potential data breaches. The impact of a data breach on a company can be all encompassing, dragging revenues and reputations down, disrupting operations, and even making it harder to retain your top employees.
Here, we take a look at the top 10 most common causes of data breach.
- Weak credentials
Weak passwords and stolen credentials will always provide a hacker with a vulnerable point to attack a business. Exploiting a weak password is one of the most common causes of a data breach, with as many as 4 out of every 5 breaches caused by weak or stolen passwords. This makes it so important that your entire staff has strong, complex passwords that are regularly changed. One weak link in the business could allow a cybercriminal to exploit and gain access to the entire network.
- Vulnerable applications
It is important to regularly review your cybersecurity measures and to look for potentially vulnerable entry points for criminals, in the same way you would assess the physical security of your business premises. A cybercriminal will look for back door vulnerabilities, where poor design or poorly written software applications or network systems allow them entry quite easily.
- Malware
Malware continues to be on the rise. It is malicious software that is loaded with the intention of allowing a hacker to exploit a system and other connected systems. Train your staff to understand the effects of malware and to never open emails or click links that they are not 100% sure are from a trusted source.
- Social Engineering
A social engineering attack is where the victim is manipulated into giving the malicious actor the sensitive information, data, or access to a system or network. This can be a much easier way for a cybercriminal to gain access to a system, rather than creating their own access point and the problems that causes.
- Too many users have access
It is vital that you have tight controls over who has access to what within your organisation. As a company grows the complexity levels must be increased to protect the data and processes you have created and store. Providing too many permissions to your staff increases the risk of that data being compromised and the wrong people getting their hands on your data. Ensure that only the people who really need to see a set of data has access to it.
- Insider threats
It only takes one unhappy employee or a contractor who has an issue with you, to cause problems with potential data leaks and breaches. This is why the above point on permissions is so important to every business. If someone you know has acted with malicious intent towards your data, copying it or stealing it, you need to act fast and decisively.
- Physical attacks
A hacker doesn’t always sit on a different continent waiting for your defences to be lowered. Sometimes a cybercriminal might attempt to gain physical entry into your building in a surreptitious way in order to get into your computer systems. Although this isn’t as likely as some of the other causes of data breaches it is vital to stay alert and vigilant.
- User error
Sometimes, human error causes a problem within your network. This could be improper configuration of software or something within the network and might be an innocent mistake. This is where it is key to have proper training for all staff and the support of a professional IT support company that can step in and provide expert support to minimise disruption.
- Misconfigured settings
It is important to have the correct settings on all software configurations within your company network. It only takes one weak link within the network to expose a vulnerability that could lead to a cyberattack.
- Recycled passwords
To go back to the point on passwords specifically, the use of recycled passwords is one of the biggest causes of vulnerable points of entry for hackers. It only takes one compromised password to lead to access to an entire network. Ensure that your passwords are changed regularly and that there are no old passwords re-used over time.
As you can see, the top 10 reasons for data breaches give you an insight into the potential vulnerabilities that your company has. Learning how to combat each type of potential cyberattack and data breach requires the assistance of a top IT support company in London, a team with the experience and skills to help you protect your data and be ready for anything.