Data Breach and Cybersecurity: Highlighting Possible Challenges and Solutions
With the digital revolution, several companies have embarked on a digital transformation journey wherein all stand at the cusp of new challenges that pose a severe threat to their business security.
India ranks second in the list of countries most affected by cyber attacks between 2016 to 2018, says Data Security Council of India (DSCI). Moreover, the average cost for a data breach in India has risen by 7.9% from 2017. That results in an average cost per breached record accounting to INR 4,552.
We take you to some reasons that are common in India.
- Companies have an inadequate approach while preparing digital transformation projects.
- Cybersecurity is given preference at the later stage of the projects.
- Some companies have a compliance-led view of cybersecurity that hugely affects digital transformation efforts.
Only less than half of the companies involve their risk teams in preparation of cybersecurity. This calls for attention!
What are the possible challenges faced in India?
For improved agility and competitive advantage, several companies are moving towards cloud infrastructure, which makes it vulnerable to hackers.
With such hurdles coming their way, businesses need to bring in effective cybersecurity solutions for smooth operations.
There are a couple of data breach examples wherein big companies have fallen prey to online scams, and invaluable personal records and data were exposed to the public. Hackers don’t hesitate in selling millions of user records to the dark web.
A single hacker has the potential to affect several companies, including book retail, e-commerce, game development, etc. across the globe.
This has raised the concern for cybersecurity for over a decade. These unknown cybercriminals first exploit weaknesses in system codes and leverage multiple vulnerabilities to come up with genuine attack vectors that even the business employees would never think to check during security testing.
The solution is in your hands. Companies should start approaching their processes, products, services and technical integrations keeping security at the core.
It will help companies to build robust business infrastructures, making them capable of withstanding new-age threats and cyber-attacks so that they don’t get cheated by cybercriminals.
Usually, scammers steal money using tools like:
Unauthorised payment cards-
Such frauds result from credit card theft- from either stolen credit card or compromised card number. It’s mostly a clerical error or a computer glitch.
Authorised push payment (APP)-
Here, cybercriminals hack into email and trick customers to send money to unauthorised accounts in the name of the company.
Earlier such incidents were not brought to light due to the fear of losing market, customer trust and company fame. Today, companies report such incidents to spread awareness and robust mechanisms established to fight such cyber issues.
Now, things are drastically changing, and companies are designing a strategic data breach response plan to fight back a serious security breach. If you have not prepared one, then it’s time to create before your business is one the verge of a possible cyber attack. Make sure you don’t forget the following:
Data breach response plan
Timely responses are a must in case of data breaches. You need to a streamline response plan in place with key organisation players who should communicate the same to the internal and external team.
Prepare a response team of personnel from legal governance, business continuity officer, communication team, IT team, etc.
While preparing a plan, keep the stakeholders in the loop as you document a detailed plan with all actionable measures taken during a cyber attack.
Work on timely response and bring transparency.
In the case of a personal data breach or compromised user credential, you need to have a 1-2 day response plan.
Organisations should be quick in communicating during such situations. Don’t delay in acknowledging people about the data breach and plan out your next step (both internally and externally).
You need to convey the message to investors, clients, partners, etc. so that they are aware of the issue.
Connect with an applicable regulatory body that will move forward with the legal requirements and regulations while you are busy implementing the response plan.
Build a proper communication strategy
Every business should be prepared for the worst scenarios and be quick enough to start with their outreach plans. You can’t understand the overall impact of the breach through initial assessments; a thorough investment is a must!
It’s advisable to maintain email templates, company statements, customer portals and press releases that should be sent across different channels like email, social media, website, blogs, etc.
Along with the news media, transmit your message to credit reporting companies, theft protection companies and financial companies.
Look beyond technical aspects.
Identifying technical aspects of a breach is a critical task as you need to understand the way people interact with these tools. You need to widen your spectrum and look for reasons for human errors or involvement that led to the breach.
The thing is simple: every business operations like data model flow mapping, access management, reporting and likewise have a whole lot of people and business processes involved. Try to identify the root cause, without overlooking the slightest error.
Equip your systems with the latest innovations
Breaches can create panic and paralyse your mind to think in a certain way. The easiest way is to develop a robust security posture and assess risk exposure to enable overall data and IP protection. These things don’t occur over time. They need long-term investment and long-term strategy.
However, data breaches have numerous intangible challenges that can shut down your business in seconds. But, if you have the right tools, then you can defeat your enemies. Developing a response plan takes a lot of time, effort and money. Start working on it now!
When starting an enterprise, make sure you give priority to innovations revolving around data protection and implement it for overall security.
The End…
We believe that the rising number of data breaches is mainly due to a lack of awareness about cybersecurity, both within the internal workforce and third party agencies.
There’s an urgent need to train our employees and customers about cyber attacks and arm them with the necessary knowledge to identify such issues while handling or processing data.
Not to forget, a lot of ransomware enters through smartphones and laptops used by employees. Companies should invest in technologies and comply with applicable guidelines while storing data in India.
With the incoming 5G rage, you need to harness all your data using the latest technology like blockchain to secure your data. Is your company ready for this change?
There’s more to it but let’s keep it for some other time. There are a few key takeaways that Indian companies should incorporate to protect their data.
Key takeaways:
- Create an end-to-end data life cycle to identify your data flow
- Outline a strict process for handling all types of data
- Encrypt all your sensitive data
- Refrain from using weak passwords
A cyber attack can throw you off guard; approach a reliable and professional Techno Legal Service provider like CLS!
We are a premier organisation in cyberlaw advisory, cybercrime consultancy, cyber law compliance audit, cybersecurity services, cyber forensics services and cyber training.