Managing information is a challenge for many businesses

The problem

Although the cyber awareness issue is fairly thunder-loud and technology has subtilised its way through refined breaching methods as well as growing number of farseeing violators, there are companies which picture the notion of safety quite vaguely and don’t acknowledge that the data stored on computers cost much more than the equipment does.

The situation differs in various industries. Banks are to conform to strict regulation requirements that’s why employees are quite discreet while working with information. The value of data is asserted, the measures of providing its safe storage and transfer are taken. Nevertheless, personal details would ooze to the dark web occasionally making a banking sector as vulnerable as some other industries seem to be.

There are areas which need much more control over than that which is exercised. And these are the spheres operating with loads of sensitive data cycling far beyond an owner’s knowing — healthcare and hospitality. Hotels and hostels are notorious sources of passport scans. And a passport is one of the common reasons for frequent fraudulent incidents. Everybody gets asked to make a copy of the document but no one is aware where it might be kept or to whom it can be given.

Healthcare poses even a bigger threat. The problem concerns large enterprises as much as it concerns the small ones. Small organisations’ budget isn’t sufficient for purchasing a costly monitoring system. Top management of famous brands is willing to integrate at least some basic security instruments but the result is often more paper-like, there are rules written but not complied with. Although the creation of a corporate regulation set is something to begin with.

There is no fuss until an incident occurs. But there are industries which can’t afford being that negligent — it concerns every organisation which stores highly confidential data or any hazardous production facility.

A person is a major cause of a security violation, data leak and scam within a company’s network which is a direct threat to staff members and working environment. People can impulse the leakage of inside information and they can incite an external attack. There is no such a thing as a fix-it-all remedy, some breaches are deliberate and some are accidental.

The solution

That is why we recommend that businesses pay attention to a number of techniques which constitute a comprehensive solution:

1. Development of the culture of data managing. Employers should inform their team that the hardware, software and information is a company’s property. Many employees disregard this fact which leads to negligent treatment of the corporate assets. A company’s task is to emphasise the importance of the confidentiality. If employees realise the seriousness of the issue they are naturally mindful which decreases the amount of occasional incidents.

2. Regular training. Many people know about phishing but even those who are aware of this type of scam would open a malicious link. Hacks get more intricate and more difficult to be identified. Regular training can boost the awareness and give a current picture of how a fraudulent activity might look.

3. Control of information safety. The communication channels via which data can be leaked grow in number. External attacks become complicated and companies need to integrate new instruments. Antivirus, Administration Tools for Windows, productivity control applications might be sufficient to begin with. Then there comes the demand for Firewall, Proxy, IDS/IPS, DLP, SIEM systems and other products facilitating internal audit and risk management. Professional instruments used to be unavoidable for large businesses, today the software is purchased by small and medium enterprises.

4. Introduction of accountability. Signing necessary papers will help to develop the culture of data treating. Besides being instructed how to comply with regulations, employees should be familiarised with consequences — fines and penalties.

Internal corporate regulation should be composed by every business which has an access to the Internet, i.e. literally every business. Rules stating the purposes computers and assets can be used for, which instruments can be exploited, employees’ responsibilities should be specified. Enterprises might want to introduce a policy regarding a trade secret — to determine the limits of sensitive information and administer the access, include confidential information handling procedures into employment contracts and monitor who accesses secret data.

Some risk management measures hamper a company’s progress by interdicting the usage of innovative technologies and devices. Excessive precautionary measures might even create weak spots and lead to new vulnerabilities. If everything is forbidden employees will find ways to bypass restrictions — they still need to keep working and any job requires at least basic conditions allowing colleagues to communicate and transfer information — and these ways might appear much more hazardous and simply uncontrollable.

Prohibiting as many channels as possible will become an impetus for employees to discover a loophole. If there is no monitoring system in place a company will know nothing about the leak. That is why seeing the whole picture and conducting an in-depth analysis seems to be a reasonable option. Interdiction can be used for guarding the most critical data. The majority of the channels should be cut loose from explicit restrictions — only delicate monitoring will detect an unsuspecting offender.

Educative and instructive talks with your team is a great method to make your colleagues more conscious and discreet concerning corporate assets. Although it has become clear that it turns to be a problem for enterprises which have more than 100 staff members employed. Honest and descent employees will keep being open to and positive about risk mitigation instructions while maliciously determined individuals will follow no voice of conscience. Even righteous employees aren’t secured from mistakes and intelligent software systems help to prevent occasional leaks. This is the reason why large businesses are to utilise various techniques to maintain healthy environment combining motivation with technology in order to provide balanced control.