data breach · 4 Corner IT

The Importance of Your Data

No matter what kind of business you run or the size of your company, the data you have is extremely valuable and may contain sensitive information. However, information can be hacked and sold to the highest bidder on the dark web. Data stolen can be personal information of employees or may contain important financial matters. Hackers attempt to retrieve any and all information in hopes to sell it for a considerable amount of money.

Password Managers Can Help

Password managers, such as LastPass, Bitwarden, and 1Password help create strong passwords and may store these passwords for whenever you need them. They can alert users if an attacker has stolen a password kept in its databases. It is important to note that not all password managers have this feature. Additionally, this feature may come with a price. Therefore, interested users should conduct additional research on what capabilities various password managers have and the costs.

Credit Monitoring Agencies

Similar to bank monitoring services that alert you of possible fraudulent charges made on your card, the goal of credit monitoring agencies is to keep track of your credit and of potential fraud that may appear on credit reports. Hackers may attempt to use one’s personal information to open new lines of credit. Thus, checking your credit history for accounts and any possible credit cards can be one way to ensure your personal information has not been stolen. Credit monitoring services, such as Experian and CreditWise can provide users with notifications of possible fraud. This will assist them in protecting their personal information.

Have I Been Pwned

Troy Hunt, a security expert, developed a tool known as Have I Been Pwned. It allows you to search through various data breaches to see if your email address or phone number has been leaked online. It’s a valuable resource to have in order to determine if you may have possibly been involved in a data breach.

The most effective way to keep hackers from utilizing your personal information is by taking preventative measures now. 4 Corner IT can assist in protecting you and your business against attackers by implementing various security solutions designed to keep others away from your network and store sensitive information in a secure manner.

To learn more about security for your company, reach out to us at 954.474.2204.

Cybersecurity is an incredibly important part of any business, but there are slight differences in various terms that can make for huge misunderstandings. For example, the average office worker might hear of “data breaches” and imagine they are “security incidents.” They might not technically be wrong, but the two terms aren’t exactly the same, either. Let’s examine the definitions of a data breach/security threat and provide some clarity on these terms.

What is a “Data Breach?”

A breach occurs when someone outside of your organization accesses some of your business’ data through their own specific efforts. Trend Micro defines it as “an incident wherein information is stolen or taken from a system without the knowledge or authorization of the system’s owner.”

Essentially, a breach is when data stored by your business is accessed by an unauthorized user. A data breach is not necessarily a malicious action, but it is still a problem.

What is a “Security Incident?”

A security incident refers to any violation of established security policies within your organization, no matter how small. A security incident is, again, not inherently malicious, but they are still problematic for any organization, particularly in regards to security and compliance.

As a blanket term, “security incident” covers a wide range of circumstances, including:

Malware infection
Spam hitting an unbox

Physical access to IT equipment and infrastructure
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack
Portable storage being misused
A brute force attack enabling network access

Security incidents are usually categorized according to their severity, as in how serious the incident is and how much of a company’s attention has been given to resolve them. Serious problems like data breaches, Distributed Denial of Service attacks, and advanced persistent threats (APTs) are considered high-priority security incidents, whereas others like malware infections or unauthorized account access might be considered medium priority. Low-key incidents would be things like false alarms or false positives.

Isn’t This Just a Difference in Semantics?

It might not seem like a big difference, but the difference is in fact quite important. If you don’t know what type of security issue you are dealing with, you don’t know how to resolve it. If you can encourage your team to use the correct terminology when discussing security threats, you can ensure that they know the warning signs and are able to appropriately report what they are experiencing. This will give your business the ability to catch and resolve threats before they become even worse problems.

We Can Help You Prevent Data Breach Threats from Getting That Far

For any security initiative, it’s important for users to be aware of how their actions can impact the entire organization. 4 Corner IT can help you train your employees and implement comprehensive security measures to keep your company safe. To learn more, reach out to us at 954-474-2204.