BreachExchange mailing list archives
Preventing data breaches and leakage: Important steps for website owners
From: Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2016 13:25:11 -0700
http://www.examiner.com/article/preventing-data-breaches-and-leakage-important-steps-for-website-owners These days, it seems as though we're beginning to hear an increased number of news stories related to major companies going through a data breach or significant data loss. Every other day, large companies are having to make the announcement that their customers' or users' personal data has been compromised as a result of hackers. In every scenario, however, the ultimate responsibility for the breach falls on the website owner. What Constitutes Data Loss/Leakage? Data loss or leakage refers to any situation where a website's confidential data has been compromised. No form of data loss or data breach is ever good for a website owner or company. However, one of the worst situations to be in is that of a data breach of customer information, as this can severely tarnish the reputation of any brand. Risks Associated with Data Breaches: In addition to hurting a company's reputation, a data breach can have a number of other negative impacts on website owners and their companies as a whole. For instance, when intellectual property is compromised as a result of a data breach, businesses can lose important information that gave them the edge on their competitors. When personal information of employees is leaked, this can also have a negative impact on employee satisfaction in the workplace (and could even lead to lawsuits). The same can be said of customer data breaches. Steps to Prevent Data Breaches: Fortunately, there are some relatively simple steps that all website owners can take to prevent data leakage. For example, having a reliable web application firewall is a key initial step to protecting websites from hackers in the first place. Using web application firewall technology, hackers' intentions can be noticed and blocked before any damage is done. In addition to using an application firewall, website owners are also encouraged to have (and enforce) a strict encryption policy. This way, in the event that the site is hacked, all the important data will be encrypted and therefore unusable to the hackers. Website owners worried about the possibility of a data breach are also encouraged to have regular security assessments performed on their sites. Some web application firewalls programs these days will already conduct security assessments, but either way, this is an important step in recognizing potential security vulnerabilities and getting them taken care of before a problem arises. Finally, keeping backups of all important information (such as website coding) is a must; this way, even if the data is compromised, it won't be completely lost. Of course, this doesn't necessarily help a whole lot in the event of a customer data breach, but it's still worth taking the time to do. There's no denying the risks associated with data leakage or a breach of data on any website. From employee information to customer data, no website owner ever wants to find themselves in a situation where they need to announce that any important data has been compromised as a result of poor security.
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- Preventing data breaches and leakage: Important steps for website owners Audrey McNeil (Feb 15)