What are the Common Types of Data Loss and How Can We Prevent Them?
Careless mistakes are among the most common ways that cause an organization to go offline. Preparing your organization is vital to mitigate the loss exposure a careless mistake can cause. The first step is to understand various scenarios that can occur to prepare you for what comes next and how to resolve it.
Scenario 1: Beverage or Liquid Spill over Laptop
One of the simplest mistakes that can occur is spilling your drink over your laptop that results in immediate damage. The damage to the laptop can result in the loss of any unsaved files or loss to files saved in the laptop’s hard drive.
One way to prepare for this situation, especially if this occurs in a high-pressure moment, i.e., minutes before a presentation, is the ability to integrate files across multiple devices and operating systems. Adding real-time backup capabilities will allow another laptop to be able to replace the damaged one without having an extensive search and rescue to get it back.
Scenario 2: Triggering a Ransomware Attack
No organization is immune from a ransomware attack. Cyber attacks have become more frequent, and their persistence should have everyone on guard. Often, ransomware threats come in the form of a phishing email. One-click can lead to both a widespread shutdown of your business and other businesses as well.
The best way to prepare your organization for a cyber attack is to educate employees on spotting these emails. Performing a mass rollback of files and folders moments before the ransomware infection occurred is another way to protect your organization’s data. To mitigate business interruption, the ability that your data is available across various devices is essential.
Scenario 3: Rogue Ex-Employee
employee can eliminate access to passwords and information. Many employees share logins with co-workers, which poses additional risks because it is hard to know who has access to what kind of data. A former employee can expose financial data or private information or even alter documents from a remote location.
To mitigate these potential problems–whether intentional or not–consider standardizing and mandating a corporate solution that will prevent employees from storing corporate information on their personal devices. IT administrators should manage users, devices, policies, files and sharing activities, including access to end-user content, and adjust permissions at a granular level.
In every scenario that may cause your organization to experience downtime, the ability to back up your data is a necessity to keep your business running smoothly. Consider obtaining Business Interruption insurance coverage for cases where your business is unable to continue operating. Business interruption coverage should be considered as part of your risk management plan. Also, many cyber liability insurance policies include business interruption and extra expense. This coverage pays for loss due to a business interruption from an e-commerce incident that interrupts online revenues or donations. However, not all policies are created equal. Therefore, it is essential to carefully read the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the policy to determine what the policy covers.
Be prepared and protect your organization against careless mistakes. Let us know if you have any questions concerning cyber liability coverage or would like us to provide you with a quote. We are here to help!
