No matter how strong your IT infrastructure security measures are, data breaches do happen. One of the most striking examples of a data breach is the US Air Force breach, which resulted in 100,000 lost investigation records due to file corruption. Unfortunately, neither investigation committee nor Lockheed Martin, responsible for the Air Force database maintenance, could determine what caused this breach. Obviously, the loss of the database will be a significant obstacle to carry out current investigations and refer to any data, having been created since 2004.
The lesson learnt from this incident is that even advanced security solutions do not guarantee complete data integrity. Whether it was a security incident or system failure, companies should be prepared to any unexpected threats. Cyber-crime has become so diverse and sophisticated that organizations more than ever need comprehensive visibility across all levels of IT infrastructure in order to detect security incidents earlier and have a ready-to-use robust risk mitigation plan at hand.
Sometimes, it is easier to prevent an incident from happening, rather than dealing with devastating consequences. I would suggest three tips that could actually help you avoid any violations and ensure everything works smoothly:
#1. Control who installs what software
This one may seem obvious, but there are so many incidents, organizations have to deal with, that are caused by unknowingly downloading and installing malicious software. Companies need to be more conscious about the programs their employees download and run, and implement security awareness plans to better educate employees about human factors vulnerabilities and cyber-security fundamentals.
#2. Identify anomalies in data use and quickly respond to them
Suspicious spikes in user activity should attract your attention and call forth for further investigation of the activity. Knowing exactly what has happened to critical data companies can ensure better decision making and help adjust security strategy by spotting and analyzing threat patterns on time.
#3. Keep track of privileged user activities
According to the Verizon 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report, privilege abuse is one of the most commonly encountered database vulnerabilities. Deep visibility into activities made by privileged users with access to sensitive data facilitates quick anomaly detection and allows to ensure that confidential information is under control.