Due to the skyrocketing volume of day-to-day business transactions and critical time management needs, most of today’s businesses rely on one leverage electronic platform, bringing all arms of a big fat business network under one roof. The best part is information management has come of a competitive edge, giving both customers and entrepreneurs seamless trading and buying opportunity like never before. But the worst is, this has led to a huge compromise of confidentiality and security leading to what is called a lack of cybersecurity.
Issues like cyber crimes, identity frauds, data breaches are nothing new. In most of the cases, personally identifiable information or the financial information is the primary target areas of these 3rd party hackers.
Did you know, issues like this are contributing to millions of losses for businesses of every size every day? In fact, once a business is hacked of its personal or payment data, the recovery ratio of the lost data, business rupture, downtime and the customer compensation coverage may cost it to be a permanently shut down. The potential loss will not only destroy its brand image but also all its future opportunities.
Let’s learn more.
What is identity fraud? With the identity theft epidemic plaguing the small and big enterprises and crippling them in no time, it’s obvious that every business is at a potential threat to their confidential information and encryption safety. With the scars of malware and ransom ware like Pet ya, Wanna Cry still has not healed, it’s time to prepare your businesses against Meltdown, Specter, Delta Charlie, Fireball, and more. With multiple cyber attacks clapping and sealing businesses from all sides, the fear of identity fraud is topping the list. This kind of cyber attacks usually triggers the most sensitive information about an organization or its particular branch. For ex., Driving License Number or Social Security Number are picked to get access to a company’s information locker.
However, following are the types of information that are hacked generally in crimes of these types: Names, mails, Addresses, Contact number, Payment details, Log-in information and more.
How to secure businesses from cyber threats:
2017 has seen the biggest wave of cyber attack, and new ones sprouted every day, entrepreneurs, Forensic teams and security experts have finally agreed to one thing in common- endpoint security or data-centric cyber security. In clear terms, an integrated data management system can secure endpoints of a business to make it more cyber-resilient.
Following are the areas to improve for this "bend don’t break" approach…
• Cyber security norms
• Business continuity plans
• Risk management
• New security trend and strategy updates
• Knowledge of sophisticated attacks
• Disruption safety
• Business data backup
• Customer trust
• Customer credential regular updating
• Identity monitoring
• Boost shareholder value
• Workforce training and literacy campaigns
• Adapt the latest digital technologies
• Install bolster security software.
How to build a robust anti-identity theft intelligence:
Do you know which industry is the most vulnerable to identity theft? It’s the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance). The notorious Equifax breach in 2017, which risked personal information of more than 145 million people can highly serve as evidence here. Scammers generally trespass accounts by opening duplicate accounts in your name, claiming tax refunds or even claiming medical benefits before you.
Following are some to-dos to thwart these criminals…
• Create unique password combinations
• Create extra verification codes at sign-in on multiple devices
• Keep DOB, account numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords and other sensitive information confidential
• Avoid clicking on sketchy or out-of-the-ordinary links.
Finally, navigating to a turbulent security scheme overnight is not easy. But with actionable insights and preparedness, you can predict and stop an email-borne threat or third-party attack very easily. Keep your eyes open, warn and educate your internal and external customers and talk to the security experts to launch a bolster threat antidote. Your business has never been safer.
