Starting any business is not a big deal but sustaining at any marketplace can test the mettle of any person or the top management of any company. That is why businesses must come up with a strategy that has all the merits for a successful business in the long term. From day-to-day operations to devising strategies to make the work of any business perfect. 

There can be several threats that any company can face, and one of them is a security breach into their systems, online servers, and then the website. From multinational conglomerates to small businesses and startups, everyone is vulnerable to such threats. But there are taut solutions that can make you safe from any such attack. Read on as I discuss security breach in detail and how to avoid it.

Security Breach 

A security breach is an incident in which unauthorized access to networks and computers is carried out.  This is usually done to get information and access to information on that server or websites connected to it.

This can have serious consequences for any company as its entire data can be compromised, deleted, or copied elsewhere. The person who has stepped into the server to carry out such attacks for ransomware or getting some sensitive information. 

Over the Internet, security breaches are becoming more widespread as compared to one decade ago. And people with malicious intentions are equipped with more powerful software and tools compared to yester years.

But the lack of security features on many websites is the reason security breaches happen. Security breaches and data breaches can be two distinct features. A security breach is just a break-in into any system, while in cases related to a data breach, secure and insensitive information is stolen. 

Confidential and Sensitive Data

When confidential and sensitive data of any business is compromised, it can result in a lack of trust by the concerned customers. Security breaches regarding Credit/Debit card data can be disastrous for any person as hackers can take all the money and gain access to other sensitive information, like details of stock, IDs/Passwords of other accounts, etc. 

One of the most famous examples of security breaches is Equifax in 2017, where the personal details of 145 million US citizens were lost. This includes their name, Social Security Numbers, and driver’s license to name a few.

In 2013, Yahoo! also suffered a significant loss as over 3 billion accounts were compromised. And eBay also suffered a similar breach as the passwords of many customers were exposed to the hackers. 

Security breaches can be of many other types as well. Some of the most common examples are crypto-jacking malware, viruses, denial of service attacks, hardware trojans, and even spamming/phishing.

Some readers might wonder how spamming and phishing can be a type of security or data breach, so let me give you a recent example where LinkedIn users looked into using some fraudulent page as the login screen for job ads.

LinkedIn Phishing Scam

Microsoft owns LinkedIn, and the hackers used innovative and smart techniques to con the people. They placed fraudulent job ads, and the people who clicked on them were forwarded to a fake page where they entered their credentials and personal information to apply for the job.

All that information went to the hacker’s account, and they misused all the information. People living in Seattle, Washington, were also tricked into getting a job in Microsoft or any other company based near the city.

LinkedIn was alerted even before people started complaining about the incident, but it was too late. Thousands of people were tricked into offering their personal information, and it was a huge embarrassment for the professional social media giant, even though its security was not breached, nor was any data stolen or compromised from its servers.

How to Ensure Security and Data Breaches Do Not Happen?

Below are some five common types of data breaches, the reason behind them, and what to avoid.

• 1.       Exploit attacks a system’s vulnerability, especially if the operating system is old and not updated regularly. We all know Windows 10 needs to be updated regularly, and if you delay the updates even for a few days, it can result in hackers getting into your systems from vulnerable areas.

• 2.       Weak passwords are also an obvious thing, so that getting into your system will be a piece of cake for anyone. Choose a strong password, and you can save it somewhere. You can use the password variations if you are not comfortable remembering or thinking too many passwords.

• 3.       Malware attacks can also compromise hosting servers and computer systems. That is why it is always recommended that you do not click on links that you see in unsolicited emails and on websites you are visiting for the first time.  

• 4.       Drive-by downloads use viruses and malware which is embedded into a program, software, or file you have downloaded. It is always safe to use premium antivirus software and use trusted websites.

• 5.       Social engineering is also one reason now many people are deprived of their valuable data. Intruders calling a person claim to be the IT person from their bank and want to set their PIN or password for online banking. Once you provide them your current PIN or one-time password, your account will be hacked. Therefore, it is always advisable never to provide a PIN or password to anyone on the phone.

Banks and financial institutions never ask for such information on the phone and ask for the customer to come to the office to make such changes in their account.

What to do in Case of a Security Breach and How to Avoid It?

Check out the following information that can save individuals and companies from tackling this growing menace.

If the breach involves financial information on marketing cloud related to any account, contact banks and SEC as soon as possible. Periodically change your password and make it strong enough that no one can go through it easily, using any software. The use of multiple special characters and a combination of upper and lowercase alphabets will make it tough for any software to go through. 

Taking care of your account with a minimum credit limit and other options will make it tough for anyone to misuse it. It comes to your web portal, go for a company that can offer reliable Seattle dedicated servers. In this way, it will be difficult for the hackers or even a software/bot to penetrate through the defense line provided by the server. 

Over to you 

Businesses and individuals need to constantly update their systems to remain one step ahead of hackers. However, if you comply with the factors I have mentioned above, your financial accounts and your slow website will remain safe. 

What is your online cyber-attack experience, and what can you recommend to the other readers of this blog? If you have any questions or want to offer your valuable feedback here, you are more than welcome. Please use the comments section below in this regard.