Organizations generate a lot of data to support their operations, communicate with other parties, and optimize decision-making. With many functions to undertake, such as running the enterprise, serving customers, managing employees, and performing administrative duties, data security may be compromised.
Business-generated data may be prone to cyberattacks no matter the size of the organization and the circumstances surrounding data gathering. Organizations should prioritize protecting from cyberattacks by using the right data security tools. Here are the ones used by the best companies.
ENDPOINT PROTECTION
Endpoint protection entails the protection of data when it is being entered into the system and then tracking every system process and file on the endpoints of a business. VPNs can also be used to protect the channels of communication between network resources.
The VPN tools help to actively identify potential threats such as ransomware and malware. The administrators can approve the mobile devices, desktops, and laptops that can access the organization’s network. VPNs encrypt data streams to boost protection and so employees adopting endpoint protection on their systems can rely on public Wi-Fi signals without additional risk exposure.
The endpoint should be protected because VPNs are more prone to attacks. Since the data may be coming from a reliable source or system, identifying whether the data is under attack may be difficult.
Endpoint protection is important because data is a valuable asset in any organization and its loss can increase the chances of an organization becoming insolvent. The number of endpoints continues to increase and this may complicate data security procedures.
CLOUD-ENABLED SECURITY
One of the most effective data security tools for data protection is cloud-enabled security. By transitioning data to the cloud, organizations can attain optimal data security solutions without the need for additional infrastructure and internal teams.
Whereas cloud-based systems are cost-effective, efficient, and accessible, they differ in the way they are created and are not immune to cyberattacks. Therefore, it is important to identify applications and cloud platforms that offer maximum data security.
With cloud systems, software or hardware is not required, and therefore it is an economical way of data protection. However, regulations such as HIPAA and PCI may pose some challenges when adopting cloud data storage. Organizations should do their homework and ensure compliance with the storage before implementing the cloud solution. Good cloud-computing security solutions provide regular and consistent support for organizations’ assets, including live monitoring.
FIREWALLS
Firewalls are aimed at monitoring the outgoing and incoming network traffic. They can network block or allow particular network actions based on deep packet inspection (DPI) or advanced analysis.
Firewalls are frontline defense tools for many organizations as they are easy to implement and have little impact on regular operations. However, just like many other security tools, firewalls are not 100% effective.
They are pervasive and any attacks can be invisible even to advanced firewalls. Thus, it is important to consider additional data security procedures. The layered security should include regular assessments, user access protection, data backups, and so on.
Firewalls prevent data from hacking. Due to the growth in digital approaches in many business setups, hacking risks are on the rise. A firewall defends an organization from any unauthorized connections and potential hackers. Since they enhance the security of the network, they increase brand reputation by allowing clients to build trust.
PASSWORDS
Passwords are simple and practical data protection tools to prevent unauthorized access to data. The effectiveness of passwords can be enhanced by making them strong and changing them often to make it hard for attackers to experiment with them and access the system.
Users should be instructed not to share their passwords and to choose something cryptic to make them hard to guess. However, the passwords should be memorable such that the users don’t have to write them down. A good practice is to use a password manager like LastPass or Bitwarden.
Another password practice is that they should not include the users’ ID, name, or any other form of identity. Longer passwords are preferred because they are hard to guess. They should have characters from lower case letters, upper case letters, symbols, and numbers.
DOMAIN NAME SERVICE (DNS) PROTECTION
DNS is used for all internet connections and the cloud. The name resolution process is universal and from a security point of view, it is one of the things a system does to enhance IP network communication. DNS translates human-readable domains into a preferred IP address.
This conversion enhances the usability of the internet for humans rather than having to memorize numbers for all the websites they need to access. Numerous servers are support DNS and are normally provided by internet service providers (ISPs).
The users who may not want to use DNSs provided by their ISPs can use a paid or a free DNS server. DNS data protection offers improved security with the capabilities for content filtering that helps to block unwanted content such as adult content.
The secure solution also provides phishing and malware blocking to clock those sites which may have malicious or dangerous content. Advertisements can collect employee information or may contain malicious applications and so DNS plays a role in blocking advertisements and filter content.
DNS increases the speed that improves productivity, reliability, and efficiency. Secure DNS servers can offer faster functionality than the servers provided by ISPs. DNS resolution is sought many times when users want to connect to the internet and so an additional improvement can yield greater performance levels.
CONCLUSION
The above security tools can safeguard the integrity of data and protect the system against cyberattacks. However, none of them is 100% effective and users need to combine the tools and use additional procedures for enhanced security. Every organization should consider its unique challenges and circumstances before selecting security tools and should encourage employees to play their role in data protection.
