Strategies for Safeguarding Website Data from Cyber Threats
Safeguarding the most precious data assets is crucial for businesses and websites alike in today's digital world, where cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated. This article explores strategies for identifying, protecting, and securing valuable data assets, with insights from senior cybersecurity leaders.
According to Charles Soranno, a managing director at Protiviti, organizations should collaborate with their data organizations to determine the worth of their "crown jewel" data assets. The value and sensitivity of these assets will determine the level of security measures applied.
Valuable data can vary among businesses, but personal information related to customers and employees, client transactions data, operational data, intellectual property, financial information, and product blueprints are high priorities for most companies. Each type of data is an attractive target for cybercriminals, who are growing more adept at exploiting both technological and human vulnerabilities.
Cybercriminals use various tactics such as phishing, social engineering, and ransomware attacks, often targeting smaller organizations with fewer robust defenses. Even unsophisticated schemes can trick older workers, putting stolen data within cybercriminals' reach. To counter these threats, finance leaders should work closely with other executives, including IT, security, legal, and privacy teams, to ensure data assets receive the necessary protection.
Here are some best practices for executives seeking to protect valuable data assets effectively:
- Collaborate with other senior executives: CIO, CTO, CISO, legal team, chief privacy officer, chief data officer, and other leaders to determine which assets need extra protection and the best course of action. CISOs should dictate the regulatory and cybersecurity needs of the organization, while CDOs and CTOs should oversee data access and storage, as well as technical architecture.
- Develop a cybersecurity strategy: Begin by understanding different levels of data classification complexity. Sensitive data like credit card numbers, social security numbers, and email addresses are generally easy to identify, while data types like intellectual property or forward-looking financial information can be more challenging. The harder data is to find and classify, the higher the risk of an accidental data leak. Developing an organization-specific labeling methodology will help address this risk and ensure the protection of its most valuable data types.
- Conduct regular data audits: Understand the type, value, location, and regulatory compliance of your data by working with multiple departments. This will help your organization determine how data is collected, used, and stored, as well as identify risks that can be addressed.
- Deploy data classification and risk assessment tools: These tools automate the categorization and prioritization of sensitive information, ensuring that critical assets are secured first. They can also budget for cybersecurity solutions like data encryption and multi-factor authentication.
- Promote company-wide communication about security incidents: Encourage employees to report suspicious activities through a dedicated email, helping strengthen your organization's defenses.
- Train employees: Ensure your workforce is well-informed regarding potential threats and how to identify them through regular cybersecurity awareness training programs. Conduct tabletop exercises with outside legal counsel to prepare the team to respond effectively to potential breaches.
- Seek external expertise: Subcontract cybersecurity professionals to help protect your information assets. Outsourcing can provide valuable insights and resources that your organization may not have in-house.
- To fortify their data assets, finance leaders must join hands with other executives, such as CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, legal teams, chief privacy officers, and chief data officers.
- Developing a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy is essential, which begins by understanding the complexity of data classification levels, and prioritizing sensitive data like financial information and intellectual property.
- Regular data audits are crucial for understanding the type, value, location, and regulatory compliance of the data held by the organization.
- Deploying data classification and risk assessment tools helps automate the categorization and prioritization of sensitive information, enabling secure protection of critical assets.
- The adoption of data encryption and multi-factor authentication can be facilitated by budgeting for cybersecurity solutions using these tools.
- Encouraging employees to report suspicious activities through a dedicated email address strengthens the organization’s overall cybersecurity defenses.
- Regular cybersecurity awareness training programs should be conducted to ensure employees are well-informed about potential threats and how to identify them.
- Seeking external expertise, such as subcontracting cybersecurity professionals, can offer valuable insights and resources that the organization may not have in-house, further securing its data assets.
