Cybersecurity upholds and protects the company’s data, operation details, and client’s accounts. Breach of data would mean an immediate halt of business operations, ruining of company’s reputation, and even loss of finances. How can someone know that there is a breach in the company’s data? Most cyber theft cases are performed by IT gurus which means noticing is very difficult especially if you are not keen. Below are some of the common signs of data breaches in a company.
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Strange Administrative User Activity
The administrative department is always the target when it comes to data breaches. This is where the planning, organizing, and execution of company tasks and operation take place so hackers target it. Unauthorized viewing of sensitive information, the high volume of unnecessary transactions, and suspicious administrative commands and permissions are some of the signs of data breaches. It is advisable to have an online file server that holds all information and enables users to remotely access information without use of VPNs.
To prevent your company from such misfortunes, it is recommended that passwords and login details be changed on regular basis. There is also a need to have a file integrity software monitoring tool that will ensure all files are regularly surveyed so that new changes can be noticed. Besides having software that reports suspicious attempts, it is also important to train employees how to identify and report suspicious attempts.
An Increase in Unusual Outbound Traffic
As a business owner, there is a certain number of traffic that you expect for your business website. Having high traffic is good and most desirable activity but at times you need to question the authenticity of such traffic. Too much traffic within a short time could mean that someone is using your data the wrong way to entice clients.
As a result, people visit your site in an attempt to get the hefty promises they are getting from the intruder. Monitor your traffic patterns daily so that you know when to suspect unusual traffic on the website.
Locking of Your Customers’ Accounts
Users may be restricted to access their normal accounts using their viable login credentials. This would mean that someone tampered with the login making access to those accounts to be impossible. Such malicious activities can only be prevented by the IT department. They should always look for ways to ensure they secure user accounts so that they are not breached. Weak administrative maintenance makes intruders easily access the login details and disrupt the integrity of user accounts.
Device Unusual Performance
Cybersecurity has advanced these days with people being able to control and use other people’s devices remotely. If the users notice that some of their devices operate even after being left for some time, it means someone is accessing their software. Such incidences must be reported immediately to avoid failure of the systems. To prevent yourself from such attacks, it is important to ensure you don’t click on strange links or download materials that you are not sure of their sources. Always make sure you be careful about what you download and store on your device.
Unusual Slow Internet and Hanging Pages
Every day you search for something on the search engines, there is that usual speed that you expect. When you find out that internet speed has immediately gone down despite all connections being okay, you should know that there is a problem with the systems. Slow internet could be an indication that your system is being accessed by plenty of people who are not authorized. It is the role of the IT department to check and understand that there is a need for immediate action so that data is not lost to the intruders.
Change of Information on Sensitive Files
Cyber attackers normally target the key files in the company. Financial records, product records, customer records, and revenue records are some of the files that get compromised when a cyber-attack occurs. The moment such activities are noticed, it is important to have all passwords changed and systems upgraded to tighten security.
Unauthorized Customer Engagements
Most companies who are under a data breach may experience replies to customers that are not from their departments. An example is when you notice emails requesting information from your clients. Normally, clients cannot recognize such malicious acts and they end up giving information that is not even required by the company. The moment such activities occur; immediate action needs to follow so that you stop ruining the reputation of your company.
Failure of Normal or Routine Activities
The company normally has some routine activities such as making calls, making payments to various workers, and dialoguing with people from various departments. There comes a time when such activities don’t work as expected and this makes people get disturbed. Such immediate failure of normal activities indicates that someone has compromised your data and that you need to do an immediate intervention to rescue it.
Missing Records or Data
One of the obvious signs of a data breach is missing critical information. You may find that financial information is missing or something critical to the company is not where it is supposed to be. That means someone is getting rid of or migrating the data slowly without the attention of people from the company. When notice such activities, you need to have all the security details changed. There is also a need for companies to restrict employees from sharing the company’s’ essential information to avoid a breach. Data protection Systems are worth investing on as a company especially a time like this when internet theft is predominant.
Creation of New Data and Information
The moment you notice new files that are not from your company’s departments, you need to know that something is not right. Most probably, someone is in the hold of your company’s administrative data and they are already acting as admins. Immediate action is necessary to prevent escalation of the matter. You can use advanced online file sharing tools to ensure your data doesn’t fall in the hands of wrong people.
Conclusion
The company’s data breach is very stressful since you may lose all data and clients. It should be the responsibility of the company employees to ensure data is not shared with any person. Employees must know that sharing of a company’s information exposes the company’s data hacks and cyber theft.
