In this day and age, the digital age that is, database security is of the utmost importance for CIO’s and IT leaders. The cost of a data breach has risen 12% over the past five years[1] and now costs $3.92 million on average. This past year alone, over 2.3 billion records have been involuntarily leaked[2]! For businesses, mobile is rapidly becoming the new norm and driving a change in how we work. The challenge for most companies is to develop and implement an enterprise-wide mobile strategy that is secure and BYOD ready.
Organizations must take the proper precautions to ensure that they are not complacent when it comes to security. Major publicly traded companies have been all over the media these past couple months, specifically because they did not institute the correct measures when it came to safeguarding their data.
How safe is your organization?
Itergy has compiled a quick 10 question questionnaire to see how prepared you are against security threats.
1) Do you have a Single Sign-On (SSO) identity framework?
SSO makes it easy for employees to access the onslaught of applications they’re required to use in order to carry out their daily tasks. The effect of SSO on productivity is immediate and positive. Time spent finding credentials and logging into individual apps adds up fast, and that time can be used on actual work and with much less frustration.
2) Do you have a disaster recovery program?
Scheduled backups, regular practice drills and data recovery services such as Azure are preventive measures one should take to ensure that in the event of a data breach, your data remains useable and your operations remain running.
3) Do you monitor for unauthorized intrusions?
Automated detection for intrusions runs continuously and is not left up to the responsibility of a single employee, significantly improving the reliability and integrity of your IT security.
4) Do you have a defined IT security policy?
A defined security policy is paramount to reducing wasted time and ensures that the rest of your IT team work towards a collective objective that is pertinent to your cybersecurity infrastructure.
5) How do you connect to cloud services?
The cloud is another place where vital data is stored and therefore must also be safeguarded against potential threats. This means that the way organizations connect must be monitored and secured with programs such as Azure Virtual Network and Office 365.
6) How do you monitor for data leaks?
Even small data leaks can be devastating to the reputation of a company and many times, the monitoring of these leaks are placed upon small IT teams. To ensure the highest amount of security for your data,an advanced data protection program with rule detection logic would be suggested such as Azure and Office 365 with options to customize a plan depending on the needs of your company.
7) How efficient are your software security updates?
Security updates must be installed on time to prevent threats such as zero-day vulnerabilities. Programs such as Azure and Office 365 have updates that are automatically scheduled and will run without any prompting to ensure that your IT is continuously addressing threats.
8) Who can access which resources?
Allowing anyone in your organization free reign to access any resource within it could be placing you at a higher risk of a data breach. Azure Active Directory allows settings to restrict access to certain resources by authenticating each user and verifying their credentials for the required access level. This authentication mitigates the potentially excessive exposure of your sensitive data.
9) Do you assess your environment for vulnerability?
The most secure systems are the ones that are continually audited and optimized to address the changing threats, ensuring that your security measures are adapted and up to date.
10) How prepared are you for a ransomware attack?
Staying up to date with security updates and bug reports is crucial to ensure that malware does not control your data. A comprehensive solution for all systems should be implemented such as those offered by Azure and Office 365.
How Did You Score?
This 10 quiz question is a high level overview of basic things an organization can do to protect their data. If you hesitated in answering any of these questions, you may have potential security gaps.
Learn more about how a Database Managed Service can help you address these gaps and drive business productivity and growth.
DBPro® Database Managed Services, a division of Itergy, gives you access to a team of expert senior system and database administrators. These Managed Services enable DBPro® to maximize the utilization of your systems in real time, including 24/7 monitoring and operations and provide on-demand access to experts for your specific needs and projects.
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[1] CNN Business, “Nearly 1 Million New Malware Threats Released Every Day”, https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/hackers-spend-over-200-days-inside/
[1] https://newsroom.ibm.com/2019-07-23-IBM-Study-Shows-Data-Breach-Costs-on-the-Rise-Financial-Impact-Felt-for-Years
[2] https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/list-of-data-breaches-cyber-attacks-in-july-2019?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter