Technology is like a sword that cuts both sides. Although it has made different aspects of life easy, it has also come with a myriad of challenges. Businesses across the world lose millions of dollars every year because of cybercriminal activities.
One of the best ways to prevent data breaches is to stop them from happening. It is estimated that 81 percent of data breaches happen as a result of stolen or compromised passwords from employees.
Creating and using strong passwords is a major step in preventing data breach in your place of work.
- Requirement to use strong passwords
When you allow your employees to create their own passwords, they often pick weak and those that are easy to guess by cybercriminals. For example, some use their names, birthdays, pet names among others.
The best way to prevent this is by ensuring that every employee creates a password that has a minimum of eight characters and mixes upper and lowercase letters together with special characters.
- Use of two-factor authentication
This is another great way of ensuring that no unauthorized person accesses information about your business or company. Two-factor authentication is the use of an extra layer of security designed to protect an account or network.
It enhances security in the sense that a user will be asked to provide two types of information whenever they log in to their email or website. In most cases, a code is sent to an email address or phone number after entering the password.
- Forbid employees from reusing passwords
Most people have the habit of reusing their personal passwords at work. A recent survey found out that 44 percent of employees reuse their passwords.
In case someone hacks into the account of one of your employees, they can definitely find their way around your company’s network.
To prevent this from happening, ensure that you assign each employee a different password for each account. They should not be allowed to use the same password for multiple sites or apps. The best way to implement this is by ensuring that all employees renew their password every two weeks.
- Implement role-based access control (RBAC)
Role-based access control with minimal access privileges is very important when it comes to combating data breaches. This is because employees can access information on a need-only basis.
It also means that employees won’t be able to access certain data without authorized permission. It is good to allow your staff to only access information that is necessary for them to perform their work.
- Use of password manager
Another great tip is the use of a password manager. You need a robust and modern password management solution in your business or organization at all times.
This will enable your IT administrator to implement proper password practices across the organization. The fact that a password manager is able to automatically generate strong passwords leaves no one with an excuse for using weaker passwords.
- Ensure that employees don’t share their login details
Sharing of passwords within or outside the company or business can make it easy for hackers to get into your system. You never know how long you are going to work with some of your employees. What if they resign and go rogue?
That’s why you should have a strong policy that prohibits employees from sharing their login credentials. Besides, shared credentials also make it easy for former employees to access the system. Those found sharing passwords should be dealt with and serve as examples to others.
Bottom Line
A data breach is a major problem for most of the companies and businesses today. It is important to come up with measures that will prevent a data breach from happening rather than trying to find a way to fix the damage.
Things such as 2-factor authentication, use of strong passwords, role-based access control among others can go a long way in curbing the menace.
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