Augmented Cyber Security: Leveraging Data Loss Prevention for Effective Defence

In this brave new online world of frauds and hacks, organizations are under more pressure than ever before to maintain the sanctity of their data.

Let’s give this a perspective. About 60 records are lost or stolen somewhere in the world every second. The main culprit behind such breaches is an inadequate implementation of data security measures. And even if there is a defense mechanism in place, its incompetence often proves to be detrimental to security.

So what is the solution here?

Data Loss Prevention

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions are software that has been designed for the sole purpose of detection and prevention of data security breaches. They protect against and prevent any data theft during all three common modes of data handling:

• In-use (endpoint actions)
• In-motion (network traffic)
• At-rest (data storage)

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Data loss can also take the form of data leakage in the case the organization loses data while it is also eventually acquired by an unauthorized entity. Though it is also possible that data is leaked without permanently losing it.

What makes DLP important?

The sheer fact that cyber attacks and ransomware attacks have been on an exponential rise in the recent years. For instance, the viral WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017 ended up encrypting the data on more than 200,000 computers across 150 countries and demanded a ransom in Bitcoins in exchange for releasing them. The damage has been expected to range to Billions of dollars around the world.

Organizations with no DLP solutions in place are left vulnerable to such attacks and can find their whole business database to be crippled at any time. Some important precautionary steps that businesses should take are:

• Avoid opening spam emails and clicking on any links that they contain. These might mislead you to phishing sites that can steal your sensitive data.
• Look out for rip-off websites by inspecting their domain names. For example, the hypothetical website (https://www.firstpage.wikipedia.org/) would belong to Wikipedia.org but the website (https://www.wikipedia.firstpage.org/)can be a spoof website that would belong to Firstpage.org
• Never try to install any free software from an unknown website on a system with sensitive data. Always consider buying original software for professional purposes.
• Never let any website save any sensitive information like credit card data and passwords while you are on a system used for professional purposes.

There are four basic types of the DLP solutions that are seen in the market today:

DLP Solution 1: Network-based Data Loss Prevention Solutions

These solutions overlook the whole network traffic at the organization to detect any loss of sensitive data that might be taking place while the data is in transit.

DLP Solution 2: Storage-based Data Loss Prevention Solutions

In such solutions, the focus is more towards protecting static data that is stored in the form of databases and file servers. Thus, it can figure out the location of confidential information and put adequate security measures in place to check leaks.

DLP Solution 3: End-Point Based Data Loss Prevention

These are event specific protocols that are triggered when the certain tasks like printing a file, copying a file to flash storage or sending out an email are carried out. Hence, the user can block certain types of activities that should not be allowed on his system according to him.

DLP Solution 4: Content-aware Data Loss Prevention

In this type of DLP method, company policies are enforced based on the classification of the content type. This thus reduces the probability of data loss due to accidental exposures outside the official channels.

Data Loss Coping Mechanism

In the event, a data loss does occur, either due to an absence of a Data Loss Prevention software or any insider malpractice/security breach, it is important to have a coping mechanism in place and stick to it. Here are some crucial action points that will help you contain the situation:

• Take note of all the activities that were performed on the system in the time leading to the data loss.
• Check all power and data connections of the storage device.
• Immediately disconnect the system from the LAN network so that the issue does not spread to the whole network if it has been caused by an external agent.
• If there is any notable sound coming from the drive, disconnect the external device or turn off the system.
• Analyse the situation to determine whether the data loss has occurred due to a physical or logical error.
• Try not to overuse the system or running a browser because they tend to save cache locally on your disk.
• If data has been lost from the main drive of the system, the best bet is to not use the system at all until you understand the reason behind the breach.
• Try using an established data recovery tool to retrieve the data. Although this is not recommended in serious data loss cases or if your data is too sensitive to trust a third party software.
• Opt for a professional Data Recovery Service Provider who can assist you in recovering the lost data and also ensure its privacy at the same time.

How a Data Recovery Company Can be Your Savior

Although you might come across many data recovery companies, you need to opt for one that can provide a guaranteed remedy in any case of the data breach.

Professional Data Recovery Service Provider comes with a plethora of advantages. To start out with, they know the exact procedure to be followed after data loss occurs. The right recovery partner can quickly recognize the type of crisis that you are facing and deploy pre-defined and proven mechanisms at the right place and time. This will maximize your chances to retrieve the lost data.

Not only this, a reliable partner will come equipped with the right set of talent regarding human resources with a myriad of technicians and security experts on their panel. Hence, they know what they are doing at all times and understand the critically of your situation better than you or third-party software can ever do.

Stellar Data Recovery is one such reliable data recovery partner that you can opt for. Our industry-leading in-house expertise is capable of handling all sorts of data loss cases, including all file types, operating systems, and RAID configurations.

Take a look at the services we provide!