Encryption software available today offers an innovative solution that can help companies protect data retained on a local device, or in on-premises or cloud storage.
All enterprises from small businesses to world-leading multinationals that collect, handle or keep personal information on record (such as names, street, and email addresses, dates of birth, financial accounts, and debit or credit card numbers) have a legal obligation to protect their owners’ rights to privacy.
If insufficient defences have been put in place to safeguard this data – sometimes referred to as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) – and a company’s security systems are compromised with a data leak, the results can be devastating. An example of this is British Airways, which after suffering two data breaches in 2018 is now facing the prospect of making reparation to claimants with exposed data. This is set to add up to a hefty total of around £3bn.
To avoid such a scenario, both cybersecurity specialists and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) here in the UK recommend that companies encrypt data. The ICO has gone as far as to state that if data involved in a breach has been sufficiently encrypted, and no data subjects are put at risk, impacted enterprises are not obliged to report incidents to officials.
Encrypting all your data files
Consider a personal device such as a smartphone or tablet that contains unencrypted files. If this is stolen or misplaced, all personal information within the records is at risk, which makes encrypting private digital files a smart security move. Encrypting all data files stored is an even better protocol to put in place, as encryption on its own is no guarantee data will remain safe.
Encryption can serve as an effective deterrent to cybercriminals, redirecting them elsewhere in search of simpler marks to hit. This is because decrypting data is a lengthy process for hackers and if they penetrate your network and find everything encrypted, they will not know what is sensitive and what is not. They may spend hours decoding your content only to find it has no value at all.
However, if you only encrypt confidential files and your systems are infiltrated, malicious operators will know where to strike and make a beeline for this limited number of records, leading to disclosed data and all that entails.
Create encryption keys
Enterprises shouldn’t ever store passwords on their dedicated systems, as threat operators who slip through your network’s defences, bypass firewalls, or take remote control of your system as part of a botnet attack will be able to use them to further their malicious campaigns.
Unlike common passwords, encryption keys are built with algorithms designed to ensure each key is entirely unique and exceptionally unpredictable. The longer the encryption key constructed in this fashion, the more impossible it is for hackers to crack the code. Encryption keys are employed to encrypt and decrypt, or even execute both of these functions, depending on the encryption solution used.
Our secure platform from Galaxkey uses powerful but user-friendly encryption that’s simple but effective for enterprises to adopt. Why not contact our team today for a free trial?
