There are dozens of ways your data can be compromised. Many are well known and well documented. Here are a few that aren’t:
Unexpected members of the IoT
We usually think of explicitly connected, smart devices as making up the Internet of Things. Laptops, desktops, phones, and so on. But what about a refrigerator?
If an employee works from home with a networked refrigerator – something that’s becoming quite common – who’s to say that fridge can’t be hacked and the employee’s other devices accessed? Devices that now serve as possible entry points for cybercriminals are growing swiftly both in number and diversity.
The 2013 Target breach (which just cost the company over 18 million) started with the infiltration of an HVAC system, for example.
Even internet-connected door locks, common at many organizations now, are vulnerable to hacking – and if they’re connected to your network along with your endpoint devices and servers, what’s protecting those?
Unexpected parts of the IoT are common access points for someone interested in installing malicious software or ransomware on your devices containing critical information. Endpoint backup and protection is an essential defense every organization should be using to combat these threats.
In-memory attacks
If a threat doesn’t leave an imprint on a disk, how can you catch it?
Antivirus programs rely on signaturing binary on disks to identify problems. But in-memory attacks don’t leave such traces. They’re commonly introduced to a system when a user opens an infected document or via the browser displaying a corrupted webpage.
Freebie advice on how to defend against such “fileless” threats: disable macros on devices that store or process sensitive data.
New(ish) endpoints and data on the move
Many employees no longer use just laptops and in-office workstations to access corporate data, send work emails, and so on. This is hardly a surprise to your IT department. But what’s commonly overlooked is the fact that phones, tablets and so on aren’t built to store data the same way a laptop does. It’s relatively easy and common to encrypt the disk on a more traditional device, but what about on an iPad, where a lot of data might end up on someone’s personal iCloud or equally vulnerable cloud storage platform (Dropbox, etc.)?
In a perfect world, IT would be able to configure all devices that might conceivably be used to access corporate data so that they’re used safely, but this isn’t always possible. Instead, a data security platform that can be installed on traditional and new endpoint devices alike is required. All sensitive data should be enveloped by the platform so that only devices that have the software can open, edit, share, and print the data. (Hint: Vaultize is this solution and much, much more.)
Vaultize is an innovative data security company that allows customers to track and control their documents from creation to deletion on any device, anywhere. From CYA to compliance, Vaultize provides data protection without restricting use. Vaultize’s platform utilizes DRM and encryption to secure any and every file, protect those files no matter where they travel, and provide visibility into who is accessing them and how they are being used. The Vaultize platform is nearly transparent to users, scalable and flexible to deploy. For more information, visit www.vaultize.com.