What is a Data Leak? Causes and Prevention

RECAP….  [Recent SEC regulation updates require reporting even small leaks that significantly impact a company's overall security reputation.]

Causes of data leakage

Now that we know what data leaks are and how they’re different from data breaches, let’s look at how and why data leaks happen. Most data leaks stem from one of a few key sources.

1. Misconfigured infrastructure: Incorrect configurations can leak credentials and source code. For example, weak permissions in AWS S3 buckets can expose internal data. Robust cloud application security is essential.
2. Social engineering: Criminals trick insiders into sharing sensitive information like credentials through tactics like phishing. This can lead to data breaches.
3. The human element: Insiders can unintentionally leak data through poor password hygiene, employee negligence, or third-party contractors with insider access. Lost or stolen devices can also lead to data leakage.
4. Zero-day vulnerability: A zero-day vulnerability is a risk that the company is unaware of, as it has had zero days to address it. This can occur due to outdated software or undiscovered gaps in security.

What types of data are most commonly at risk of being leaked? 

The term “data leak” can seem pretty broad. What specific kinds of information might be part of a data leak? Most data involved in leaks has the potential to compromise your organization’s customers, employees, and proprietary internal knowledge:

• Customer data: Phone numbers, addresses, emails, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other personally identifiable information.
• Internal employee data: Addresses and emails as well as human resource information like background checks, passport scans, and compensation data
• Intellectual property: Research, trade secrets, internal documentation, and source code
• Security credentials: Passwords or phone numbers for multi-factor authentication (MFA)

How to prevent data leaks

Data leaks pose a threat to all companies — even well-known and seemingly secure organizations aren’t immune. Preventing and containing data leakage often comes down to taking proper precautions so that you can catch a data leak before it swells into a breach. Here are a few ways to do so:

1. Get visibility into your company’s data: Monitoring all data across your company’s digital spaces will help you quickly detect any unusual movement. Be aware of where all your data is, including both structured and unstructured data. Additional surveillance on important data and flagging critical assets will help catch any anomalous movement of your most sensitive information.
2. Respond based on the severity of the incident: Once you have strong monitoring in place, tailor your response to each movement based on its risk profile and severity. Too many controls on data movement can actually slow employees down, so use automation to customize responses to specific actions so your employees can keep working efficiently. With automation, your security team can put in place safeguards that catch data leaks in real time while keeping your teams effective.
3. Educate your employees: Because so many leaks are the result of human error, creating awareness will help prevent leaks from springing. Consider implementing regular security training and a security program to help foster a culture of awareness.

Contact Hem Infotech,

If you want to protect your data against virus attack

If you want to save your precious data against leakage

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