In this era, all businesses involve large data volumes and at the same time, they face a lot of threats to their data. Hence, protecting data is a growing challenge. So it is important to know about the threats and the ways to tackle them to run the businesses smoothly.
THREATS – OVERVIEW
The threats faced may be external or internal threats. In both cases, the fraudulent activities like stealing, deleting are carried out with the private data. The risk to data increases because of threats like Phishing Attacks, Hacking, Malware which can be in the form of Viruses, Trojans, Worms, Spyware, and Adware. The aforementioned belong to External threats. Internal Threats are due to the intentional leak of data by staff referred as Espionage. Disasters like Fire, Flood, Flaws in existing software and Physical failure of PC are other threats.
MOST DAMAGING ATTACKS ON DATA
Ransomware has been a prominent threat to Enterprises, SMB’s and individuals since mid-2000’s. They block user access to file/systems and demand large ransom sums. Ransomware distribution tactics by hackers include Phishing attacks, Spoofed websites and others. Spear Phishing is one of the Phishing attacks that take place through Sneaky Scams, mostly to catch off the Company’s private network. “WANNACRY” is the most recent Ransomware attack which targeted Microsoft Windows OS. It automatically spreads itself, hence it is considered as Network Worm.
WAYS TO FIGHT THE THREATS TO DATA
The use of Technology and Internet which handles lots of data in its process has increased dramatically and so the threats to it also increased. To tackle the threats to data there are a few strategies which include.
FIREWALL – For blocking dangerous programs from entering into the system
ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE – To avoid getting infected by Viruses, Worms, Trojans
OS & BROWSER UPDATES – To protect from recently discovered threats through critical security path
ENCRYPTION – Using networks with encryption for the protection of data from hacking & phishing
BACKUP – Backup is one of the best ways of protecting the data from many types of threats. Backup helps to restore the files. Backup can be created on a different device like external drive or else cloud can be used for storage which is a viable backup option.
CONCLUSION
Protecting the data from threats isn’t a one time process. It’s an ongoing thing and the threats also differ according to the new developments in the Network. So understanding the data threats and knowing the ways to tackle those threats are very much necessary in this era.
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