According to recent information from McAfee, many small and midsize businesses currently operate under a false sense of security when it comes to enterprise data, devices and secure file sharing.
CSO stated that of those participating in McAfee’s business index of 1,000 small businesses, 66 percent claimed confidence in the security of business data to protect against hackers. However, 80 percent of those surveyed stated that they do not utilize data protection to guard against a cyberattack. Furthermore, an overwhelming 91 percent of participants do not use endpoint or mobile security measures either.
CSO stated that the most bothersome finding of the survey is that 14 percent of small businesses do not have any security measures in place.
McAfee vice president Bill Rielly told the news source that as larger organizations shore up their defenses against data leakage, hackers have begun to target the sensitive data of small and medium-sized businesses with less protection in place.
“A business that doesn’t have any security measures in place is putting their data and customers’ trust in jeopardy,” Rielly said.
Tips for data security practices When first implementing or improving a data security strategy, there are a number of factors to consider. Security expert Corey Nachreiner recently shared tips for data protection at Gartner’s ITxpo Symposium in October 2013. Before implementing a strategy to protect sensitive information, businesses should perform a data inventory. During the process, administrators should log all sensitive documents and content, determine where and how this data is stored as well as who has access to it. Once the log is complete, executives can design a protection strategy that encompasses all these areas and ensures complete data safety.
Furthermore, according to a recent study by the Ponemon Institute, an organization’s protection practices should include data protection technology for secure file sharing that allows administrators to set privileged users, restrict access to certain information and centrally manage the transmission of data throughout the company. In this way, executives know which employees have access to sensitive data and are also aware of mobile file sharing and other data transfers.
The Ponemon report also suggested that businesses have a metric system in place associated with their data protection strategy to gauge the effectiveness of the practice. Using a measurement system enables key decision makers to adjust and improve the security strategy as they see fit.