The number of data breaches on the site is constantly increasing. Statista data show that the number of violations in the US has increased from 662 to over a thousand in recent years.

Some industries such as government and healthcare have been particularly affected. For example, recent Verizon data shows that data breaches in the healthcare industry have increased by 58%.

You may be thinking, “What exactly is a data breach on the site and should I be worried?”

Like most things in technology, there are no warning signs and unique solutions for the data breaches on the site. However, understanding what these threats entail and learning effective ways to prevent and deal with them can make a huge difference to your business.

What is a data breach on the site?

A data breach occurs when information is retrieved from a system without the knowledge or permission of the owner. This stolen data may include confidential details, personal data, trade secrets, and even sensitive information that could seriously threaten the security of the organization.

Some common examples of data stolen during a site data breach include.

• Stolen Passwords
• Identity information (date of birth, email ID, location, etc.)
• Credit card information
• Bank details
• Medical history

If a data breach occurs and this information is stolen for misuse, it could harm both the business and the person whose information is being taken.

Think about it: If you own a business that manages sensitive customer information, such as their financial history, you need to protect that data. When there is a breach of data on the website, these personal details can be misused, leading to identity theft, empty bank accounts, and unauthorized transfers, among other types of fraud.

Ecommerce companies need to be especially careful about violating data on websites, as most of their transactions take place online, so almost all information is at risk.

This is important because you are not only losing data but also money. Keep this in mind: RiskIQ data suggests that cybercrime costs organizations $ 2.9 million per minute, and major companies lose $ 25 per minute as a result of data breaches.

Do you still want to risk a data breach?

What causes data breaches?

A data breach does not require a trained hacker. Something as simple as losing your device may be enough to violate your site data. Other causes of site violations include:

Hacking: Various types of hackers work alone or in teams to compromise and sell sensitive data. This is one of the main causes of data breaches and tends to cause the most damage, as not only could you lose data, but your entire system could be compromised.

Accidental access: If you’ve ever logged in to a colleague’s computer for a minute and had access to sensitive information that you shouldn’t have seen, it’s a data breach. This happens more often than you think because many colleagues sometimes share a device to work on a joint project.

Internal spy: If an employee of the company shares information with outsiders for money or other earnings, the data is violated by an “internal spy”

While these causes can be dangerous for sensitive data companies (think about payment processing applications), most of them can be prevented. To help you strengthen your security, below we’ll talk more about common data breach strategies and how to protect your business against them.

What strategies do people use to cause data breaches?

There are various strategies that people use to cause data breaches on the site. These can be spontaneous or well-planned, depending on the type of data being breached, whether it is an individual or team business and the purpose of the breach.

Here are some of the most common strategies that cybersecurity experts recommend:

Phishing

Phishing attacks are designed to trick users into giving up their information. These look like genuine messages from trusted institutions, but they are actually clever traps designed by hackers to gain access to your data.

Non-tech savvy or rushed users may accidentally click on fake links and provide important information directly to fraudsters.

Brute force

Brute force attacks cause data breaches on the website, working through all possible combinations to crack your passwords. This used to take a long time, as there could be endless variations of letters, numbers, and symbols to try, but nowadays, using sophisticated software makes this process much easier. In fact, some hackers use fully automated brute force attacks.

This chart explains how a brute force attack works to cause site data breaches:

Malware

Malware attacks exploit your device’s security flaws to gain access to your system. Hackers introduce viruses and spyware into your system to view, access, block or modify your files, which can lead to massive data breaches.

In fact, the data show that almost half of the security professionals surveyed say that ransomware and malware pose the greatest risks to IT, so companies should be very careful to protect themselves against such cyber threats.

How to prevent a data breach

Although every online business faces some cyber threats, there are many ways to prevent or at least minimize the impact of data breaches. Let’s take a look at some of them below.

Look for vulnerabilities

No system is perfect. Every system, network, server, and the device has a flaw that hackers use to gain access. The sooner you identify these defects, the better you can protect your business from data breaches on the site

One way to do this is to proactively look for vulnerabilities in your security system. You can do this by using security software specifically designed to test your system for such vulnerabilities.

If you don’t want to rely on software, there’s another option for you. Many companies hire trained hackers to detect system vulnerabilities and fix them before other hackers stand a chance. This is time-consuming, but can also provide more reliable results, especially when it comes to larger organizations that handle a lot of data.

Human testers are also better at recognizing patterns, so if there is a recurring issue, paid white-hat hackers may be able to identify the issue before it’s too late.

Train your employees

While human testers can be a great benefit to your organization, sometimes even your own employees are the ones causing the violations you are trying to prevent.

Many incidents of data breaches on the website occur when employees accidentally leak information to people who do not have authorized access to this data. For example, if an employee accidentally e-mails private information to a third-party customer or if sensitive information is leaked through a shared device in the office, that data is considered to be “accidentally” violated.

It is still harmful to the company, but it is caused by human error, often due to employee negligence, lack of technical knowledge, or data handling skills.

Accidental data breaches on the website, such as these, are easily prevented by proper training of employees to improve their understanding of data management. Organizations can use various programs such as Polymer DLP Behavioural Approach to training their employees on cybersecurity.

If a full schedule is to time or budget-consuming, consider hosting small webinars. Invite a guest speaker or present a documentary highlighting the impact that accidental website data breaches can have on a company and how to prevent them.

You have backups for your data

In some cases, despite best attempts to prevent them, a data breach on the site can delete important information from your system. Although it may or may not be recovered, it is always a good idea to back up your data. any information that may be relevant.

That way, if your data is stolen, you’re not completely lost. You have something else to retire to. To do this, you can invest in a cloud backup solution or use a third-party service, depending on your business needs.

Install a firewall

Firewalls are one of the simplest but safest ways to protect yourself against website data breaches. By installing a firewall, you will prevent unauthorized traffic and malicious software from entering the network. It can act as the first line of defense and work well with other security measures to minimize the threat of hackers and other cybercrime.

Encrypt sensitive data

The encryption process involves encrypting the data in a way that only authorized parties can read. This is another basic but effective strategy to protect your business from data breaches on the site.

Different types of encryption processes can protect sensitive data that is only meant to be shared with certain people in an organization. Only these people will be able to access and share it, keeping it in tight circles.

Online payment apps, email service providers, and messaging apps like WhatsApp use encryption to protect users’ privacy and increase the security of sharing personal information on these platforms.

Monitor database activity

Do you want something to give you a high-level view of your security system? Consider monitoring database activity. This could be a new concept for many teams that are still in the early stages of adopting data security technology, but it is worth taking a look at and can be effective for organizations of all sizes.

A database activity monitor (DAM) observes, identifies, and reports database activities. These monitoring tools use real-time security technology to monitor all actions in the database. In addition, they can detect abnormal and unauthorized activity, indoors and outdoors, while assessing the effectiveness of existing security protocols.

Site data violations: Frequently asked questions?

How common are site data violations?

The number of data breaches in the United States is growing. For example, Statista data shows that the number of data breaches in the US has risen sharply in recent years, from 662 breaches in 2020 to more than a thousand breaches in 2022.

Which industries are most affected by site data breaches?

TechRepublic data show that 95% of data breaches occurred in the government, retail, and technology sectors. The medical and financial industries are also particularly affected by such cyber threats. IBM researchers found that the medical and financial industries spent the most time in the data breach lifecycle, which is 329 days and 233 days, respectively.

 What is the most common cause of website data breaches?

Hacking has consistently been one of the most common causes of website data breaches. Human error is also a common cause, as a lot of confidential data is accidentally leaked by employees in the organization. Losing, sharing, and leaking passwords is also a type of human error that can lead to accidental website data breaches.

What is the best way to prevent data breaches on your website?

Some of the best ways to protect your business from data breaches include: finding vulnerabilities in your security system, training employees to reduce the chances of accidental breaches, backing up important data, using a firewall, encrypting confidential information, and monitoring the activity of the database.

Conclusion: violations of the data on the site

In the age of the internet, cyber threats are expected, which means you need to be prepared. Finding out more about the causes of violations and finding personalized solutions to prevent these attacks can go a long way in keeping your business and customer information safe.

If you want to take this a step further, learn how to effectively manage your website, obtain an SSL certificate, or focus on security and trust in your site.

Contact our team For More information @ +91-9555-71-4422 here at Adlivetech.