Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023: Key Strategies for Safeguarding Your Data
As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, examining the top five action items that can help elevate your organization’s data security posture management and protect your valuable data is essential.
With the ever-growing number of threats to data, it’s crucial to maintain a strong data security posture. Today’s business-critical data spans various forms, such as intellectual property, financial data, confidential information, personally identifiable information (PII), and payment card information (PCI). These complexities make it difficult to rely solely on traditional data protection methods.
Data Security Posture Management
The importance of data security posture management (DSPM) has become increasingly evident, as it enables organizations to identify sensitive data, monitor risks to critical data, and remediate and protect that information. In light of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, here are five essential steps to follow for better data protection:
1. Understand Data Sensitivity
Awareness: To secure your at-risk data, you must first discover and identify where sensitive data resides.
Action: Conduct workshops and webinars to educate employees about your organization’s various types of sensitive data and the importance of protecting them.
2. Adopt Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication
Ensure you and your employees use strong, unique passwords for all accounts. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an additional layer of protection.
3. Be Vigilant Against Phishing Attacks
Stay aware of phishing attacks and social engineering tactics. Educate employees on how to recognize and report suspicious emails or messages.
4. Keep Software Updated
Regularly update and patch your systems and software to minimize vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit.
5. Implement Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)
DSPM can help you gain visibility into actionable insights for mitigating data security risks. By implementing DSPM, you can efficiently identify, monitor, and protect sensitive data throughout your organization.
Remember, during Cybersecurity Awareness Month and beyond, it’s crucial to continually assess and improve your organization’s data security posture to protect valuable information from potential threats.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Top Five Action Items to Boost Your Data Security and Safeguard Your Data
- Emphasize data sensitivity: Understand the importance of identifying at-risk data. Be aware of where your sensitive data is located to secure it effectively.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA): Strengthen your online account protection by enabling MFA, particularly for email, social media, and financial accounts.
- Recognize and report phishing: Avoid unsolicited messages asking for personal information. Learn how to identify and report phishing attempts to avoid ransomware and other malware threats.
- Use robust passwords: Improve your cybersecurity by creating unique passwords for each account. A strong password should contain at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one number and be a minimum of 10 characters long.
- Regularly update your software and systems: Keep your software and devices up-to-date by promptly installing patches and updating as new versions become available. This helps minimize vulnerabilities and strengthen your data security posture.
During Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023, follow these top five action items to elevate your data security posture management and protect your valuable data.
