How to Prevent Unlawful Data Access

Get an Extra Layer of Protection–No Matter Where You Are

Protecting your data is crucial, whether you’re in the office or on a plane, train, bus, or in the back of an Uber. You need to have security solutions that keep hackers from accessing your company’s valuable data no matter where you are—even when you aren’t watching your data. Here are some tips on how to prevent unlawful data access at your company.

Beef Up Your Security by Using Strong Passwords

Strong passwords are the most common technique used to protect your company from data theft, no matter your company’s size budget.

Companies should require users to create passwords with a mix of numbers, symbols, and characters. Passwords should also require at least eight characters​. And users should change these passwords every 60‒90 days. This makes it harder for hackers to access data.

Add Two-Factor Authentication

Using ​two-factor authentication can provide an extra layer of protection against data breaches. This essential step will make it extremely difficult for hackers to penetrate your defense and steal or compromise data.

First, you’ll need to log in with a screen name and password. But just requiring passwords won’t keep hackers from attacking your system. So, you’ll need an extra layer of protection.

For a second line of defense, you can require users to enter a randomly generated code​. It’s usually a six-character code you enter before accessing data. Many smartphone apps are available to automatically produce this code.

Incorporate ​IP Whitelisting

You can use IP Whitelisting to give only authorized employees access to sensitive data. Just enter those employees IP addresses in a group that the system recognizes. So, only those authorized employees will have permission to view the data. Any IP addresses not in that group won’t have access.

But some companies have IP addresses that frequently change. In that case, your internet service provider can assign a fixed IP address. That’s an important feature if you have employees working remotely.

How to Prevent Unlawful Data Access with Monitoring

Monitoring the system through which users access your company’s data will help keep your security tight. A hacker may have breached your security if you notice and of these situations.

• Multiple login attempts
• Users attempting to view data they don’t normally access
• Logins during company off-hours

In addition, monitoring unusual activity can help determine whether an employee forgot their login credentials or a hacker is trying to steal your data. Here are some tools you can use to keep watch on suspicious activity.

• Alerts can signal suspicious behavior like data access attempts at unusual hours or multiple login attempts.
• User Behavior Analytics shows a normal pattern for each user’s behavior and catches any suspicious or harmful activity.
• Log Analysis allows you to analyze and track logs that contain indexed data, which can help you uncover suspicious activity.

Protect Your Data from Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are one of the most common ways to breach data. Phishing scams usually come through emails and are sent from addresses that look familiar to the user.

Here are two simple ways to prevent unlawful data access from phishing scams.

• Automatic Security Software Updates allow your computer or smartphone to update protection software automatically to combat any new security breaches.
• Spam / Phishing Monitoring Service allows all emails to be scanned before being delivered to your inbox making sure all links and attachments are safe.

But Don’t Forget… With all of the security in place, it’s still possible for human error or a software / hardware failure to cause a hole in your security. So, make sure you have data backups. We recommend—at a minimum—saving your data daily and using multiple backup solutions that save your data onsite and in the cloud.

As a business owner, it’s essential to make sure you do everything you can to secure your data from unlawful access.​ 

Want to learn more about how to prevent unlawful data access?

Trinity Solutions Provides State-of-the-Art Software to keep hackers away from your data.

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