Fix Any Bit of Data Leakage

How valuable is the data that you’ve collected during your time in business? What would it mean if it were to leak somewhere beyond your control? Today we’ll discuss ways to control your data leakage.

Many organizations have a lot to lose through data leakage, where it makes its way out of your protected infrastructure and into an unprotected environment. To make sure your operations aren’t affected by these complications, you need to ensure that data leakage is something that can’t occur. The first step to making this happen is understanding why and how your data is leaking.

The Three Kinds of Data Leaks

All types of data leakage can be attributed to one of the following categories:

• At Rest: Data that is in storage, waiting to be accessed. If your data is stolen from a database or from a workstation, your data is stolen while at rest.
• In Transit: Data stolen while in transit is intercepted on its way to a particular location. This can happen if sensitive information is left unprotected in an email or in your web traffic.
• In Use: This kind of data leakage happens while the data is being actively used. The way this happens is if an insider threat is able to take screenshots or documents out of the office where they don’t belong.

Securing Your Data Against Leaks

There are several methods of keeping data leakage to a minimum. First, you need to educate your users about the risks associated with data leakage. While you might be aware of the data that should and shouldn’t be shared, this doesn’t mean that your employees know too. It’s your job to make sure that your employees are aware of how they can keep data from leaking into the wild.

You can also implement IT solutions to keep data leaks from influencing operations. Here are a few of them:

• Encryption: Encryption is the biggest way you can keep your data safe. It effectively renders any data stolen from your organization indecipherable without the proper decryption key.
• Content Filters: You can prevent certain threats from even making their way to your infrastructure with the right content filtering solution. These can also alert the administrator of suspicious data transfers.
• Access Control: The fewer people who have access to data, the fewer the chances that they will leak it, either intentionally or on accident. Keeping close watch on data access and permissions is one way you can cut down on unnecessary risk.

Hopefully you can use these tips and tricks to minimize data leakage for your organization. To learn more, reach out to us at 607.433.2200.