5 Effective Strategies to Prevent a Data Breach

Data breaches occur when any sensitive information is leaked or exposed to the public without authorisation. They can lead to the loss of your organisation’s intellectual property, customer data, or other confidential information.  

According to government statistics, 50% of businesses in the UK have experienced some type of data breach in early 2024. Most data breaches are caused by human error or cyberattacks that take advantage of network vulnerabilities. 

Data breaches are a serious cyber security issue and can cause significant damage to a company, its customers, brand image, and reputation. Given their far-reaching consequences, one of the best ways to protect your business against this nightmare and the costs that come with data breaches is to prevent them. 

If you want to learn how to prevent a data breach and protect your business, you’re in luck. There are many actionable strategies you can implement to protect your sensitive data from cyber security threats. 

In this article, we’ll explore some effective ways to prevent a data breach and improve your digital defence system. 

1. Conduct Cyber Awareness Training

When it comes to data breaches, a lack of cyber awareness and human error are some of the biggest contributing factors. Most data breaches are caused by employees who are unaware of how to recognise and respond to cyber threats. 

Employees are considered the first line of defence in every cyber security program. Hence, the first step in learning how to deal with a data breach is educating employees on effective cyber security practices. 

Teach your employees the importance of creating strong passwords and updating them regularly. Alongside this, educate them on how to spot, avoid and respond to phishing scams and other suspicious activities. 

Effective and comprehensive cyber awareness training is the first step to prevent a data breach and protect your business. Through cyber awareness training, you can equip employees with the skills they need to avoid falling victim to phishing attempts and other cyber attacks. 

2. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication and Access Controls

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security protocol that involves using multiple verification factors and reduces the likelihood of a successful cyber attack. As a key element of identity and access management policies, implementing MFA is essential for safeguarding user accounts and sensitive data. 

Privilege Access Management (PAM) also helps prevent a data breach by ensuring users only have access to areas relevant to their job functions. 

Other helpful cyber security practices include using strong passwords and keeping them updated regularly. By following these practices, you can minimise the risk of a security breach. 

3. Regular Data Backup and Recovery

Sometimes, data breaches can maliciously delete your data. For this reason, always back up your data to ensure it can be easily recovered in case of data loss, a server crash, or any natural disaster. 

It’s a good idea to have automated remote backup systems in place routinely to protect you from losing key data. While backups and recovery measures do not prevent a data breach, they can help you recover from it quickly. 

4. Encrypt Your Data

If a data breach does occur and malicious individuals gain access to sensitive data, this data will be of little to no use to them if it’s encrypted. Aim to encrypt all your data with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), the encryption standard used by government bodies. 

A dependable data encryption policy has to apply to all your internal data, not just the sensitive regions. For example, if you’re sending an email, ensure it’s encrypted before it’s sent. 

If you’re using a WiFi network, ensure you have a dedicated network for your team that isn’t accessible to the public. This is an additional precaution that can prevent cyber criminals from intercepting your data. 

By encrypting all internal data, you can prevent hackers from understanding confidential information and disrupt their attack’s progression. 

5. Maintain Up-to-Date Security Software

When trying to prevent a data breach, you need to leverage strong security solutions and software. Firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-spyware software are all important tools that can help defend your organisation against data breaches.

You can purchase security software and automate it to run continuously or work with an MSP, like Redpalm, to ensure all essential cybersecurity measures are in place. 

Contact Redpalm to Tackle Cyber Criminals and Improve IT Security 

Managing a business is very time-consuming, and thinking about ways to prevent a data breach may not always fall within your realm of expertise. If this is the case, consider working with an expert in cyber security services to help you prevent a data breach in your organisation.

Redpalm is a managed service provider (MSP) that offers cyber security solutions to protect your business against various types of cyber threats.

As a trusted cyber security partner, we help you empower your business with the latest tools to protect your business from security breaches and cyber attacks. Armed with knowledge and expertise, our Microsoft-certified experts help you effectively detect and mitigate security risks. 

We also offer various other services such as proactive monitoring, cloud services, technology procurement, incident response, IT audits and health checks, and more. 

To learn more about our services, click here or contact us to schedule an appointment today.