One of the biggest risks all companies face daily is data loss, which occurs when confidential and sensitive information from a computer gets accessed by hackers or attacked by malware. Some unfortunate events may also cause it, such as a power outage due to a natural disaster.
Aside from those, data loss can also result from laptop theft, accidental deletion or overwriting of files, unintentional damage, and other human errors. Compromised data can lead to a series of problems, including phishing attacks, and even a hostage, where a hacker would demand a ransom before giving the decryption key.
Some consequences of data loss can be prevented by anti-virus software, but that alone won’t suffice if you need to protect your entire network and file storage. For that, you’d need the services of a reputable data loss protection solutions provider.
If your startup lacks its services yet, you and your staff could be making mistakes when storing your data, causing them to be vulnerable to attacks. Below are the most common data protection errors companies make:
1. Making Changes to the Advanced Settings
For a non-IT professional, making adjustments to a computer’s advanced settings may seem like a way to strengthen its data-securing properties. But you may unwittingly be doing the opposite.
For instance, updating the Basic Input-Output System (BIOS) is needed. A small change to the BIOS may prevent a computer from booting, exposing you to local data loss. Therefore, adjustments to the BIOS must be entrusted to IT professionals.
2. Failing to Backup
Saving files in a computer’s hard drive alone makes it susceptible to a loss due to accidental deletion, theft, corruption, or damage. If your files aren’t backed up, then you’re going to lose them permanently. Thus, use the cloud or any other separate storage to be sure that you have multiple copies of each file you save.
3. Mishandling of Computers
If your files aren’t backed up, and you habitually enjoy a drink in front of your computer, you risk data loss if you accidentally spill your beverage all over your computer. The likelihood of permanent data loss plus damage to the machine is even greater when the drink is acidic or sugary.
5. Ignoring Data Breach Warnings
Data breach warnings aren’t always apparent, but that isn’t an excuse to be careless when opening suspicious links or e-mail attachments. When you receive an e-mail from an unknown sender that asks for passwords or to open links or attachments, chances are it contains malware, so immediately report the incident to an IT professional.
Consequences of Data Loss
Apart from the obvious, companies also lose a hefty amount of money from data loss. In general, the costs can fall anywhere from $1.25 million to $8.19 million.
According to IBM and Penomon Institute, having mitigation in place, like a data loss protection provider and an incident response team, can decrease the costs of a data breach by $720,000. It was also found that companies with security automation technologies suffered only half of the average price of data loss ($2.65 million on average), while those that didn’t have such technologies suffered higher losses. ($5.16 million on average)
But the companies that had the most advantage were the ones that employed an incident response team and performed periodic incident response plans, saving up to $1.23 million per data breach on average.
Considering all of these, in addition to the persistent prevalence of data theft, protecting your data has never been more crucial. Remember that prevention is better than cure, hence, safeguard your data now, before experiencing what is likely inevitable.