Despite technological advancement to protect data and enforce security policies, cyber attackers still manage to deploy their harmful intent and breach the security parameters. Therefore, you may hear about data breaches frequently; even the tech giants like Google and Facebook have encountered this trouble. According to a report, one of the most significant data breaches happened with Yahoo in 2013 that exposed around 3 billion accounts. And quite recently, in June 2021, LinkedIn suffered an attack compromising the data of 700 million users that hackers posted in a Dark Web forum for sale. So, it’s crucial to protect data whether you are a business, government body, or an individual by employing services and systems that can help you reduce the likelihood of such deadly attacks and ensure you leave no vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Let’s quickly understand a few things about data breaches and find three security services to help protect you from data breaches.
How does a data breach happen?
Data breaches expose protected, sensitive, or confidential data belonging to a business and its customers, government bodies, and individuals to an unauthorized person. The attackers can reveal information to anyone and share it without consent anywhere to leverage it. Everyone is at risk in this technology-driven world where the internet drives many businesses and users. Hackers can steal information via the internet, text messages, Bluetooth devices, and online services that people use. Even a weak link in security can result in heavy data loss. Generally, data breaches happen due to a weakness in user behavior or technology.
Internet-connected devices like smartphones are used massively worldwide, increasing the attack surface.IoT devices and products with security flaws such as lack of encryption increase risksNew services, tools, and software release without a proper security assessmentPoor online habits like unsafe connectivity, browsing malicious sites, using weaker or repeated passwords, etc.
A breach can happen intentionally or unintentionally when something is not taken care of.
Intentional: A malicious insider or employee in an organization can purposely share data or leave the system exposed for attackers to exploit. They may use their authority to carry out malicious activities.Unintentional: It can happen when an employee accidentally leaves vulnerabilities that hackers can leverage to exploit the data. It’s due to poor internet habits or leaving some systems updated with security flaws, stolen devices like unprotected laptops, external drives, etc.
In addition, attackers may also use advanced systems and technologies to hack into organizational data such as phishing campaigns, scams, brute force attacks, DDoS attacks, and so on.
What are the impacts of a data breach?
Data breaches can impact a business from all sides – financial, reputational, and privacy.
Individuals can suffer from identity theft that involves exposing their social security information and bank accounts. Attackers can use the stolen data to conduct frauds, ruin credit scores, pose legal issues, etc. In addition, leaked data also threatens your privacy.Businesses can be devastated by a data breach since it exposes their sensitive, confidential business information to others. This also discloses their customer information, destroying user trust and brand reputation that can take ages to rebuild. In addition, they may also get penalized by data privacy regulators like HIPAA, GDPR, etc. And the cost of recovering from such incidents is also high. Ultimately, they suffer in terms of finances, privacy, customers, and revenue.Government bodies can suffer from a data breach heavily in terms of national security if their confidential data such as military operations, weapons, political structure, deals, and other details get leaked. It’s a significant threat to a country and its citizens.
How to protect against data breaches?
Businesses, governments, and individuals must protect their data at all levels. They must use security tools, technologies, and measures to ensure they leave no vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Here are some things to consider to maintain security:
Stay educated and educate your employees to follow cybersecurity best practicesRegularly update and patch software and systemsUse highest-level of data encryptionEnforce security and privacy policies throughout the organization and those you deal withUse strong passwordsLeverage identity and access management (IAM) solutions, antivirus, firewall, VPN, brute force protection, and other security systems
On top of that, you can also monitor personal data breaches with the following services:
Avast BreachGuard
Protect your sensitive information from data breaches with Avast BreachGuard by monitoring your online information 24/7 and checking for leaks to secure your data from hackers. It helps you make a boundary so that no one can collect or sell your personal information. Avast BreachGuard helps you establish your accounts’ privacy settings and keeps you safe from data breaches. Moreover, it secures your website against hacks by detecting security issues at the right time. BreachGuard scans the dark web automatically and acts like an eagle that keeps an eye on your network and systems to identify the risks and secure your data every second. The solution helps you avoid data breaches by making the right decision at the perfect time. It also enables you to browse any company website without the fear of a leak. Ensure the online passwords you are using are firm and not similar to other passwords. You can send requests to advertisers and make them stop using your personal info. This is available on Firefox, Avast Secure Browser, Opera, Edge, and Chrome. Moreover, you can automatically opt-out from the advertisers when they try to steal info. BreachGuard strengthens the privacy settings of your online account by controlling the amount of information you share, stopping anyone from spying on you, and reducing the number of information companies have. Take back the control over your data at $39.99/year for a single PC. If you don’t like the service, Avast will refund your money within 30-days of purchase.
Bitdefender
With Bitdefender, you and your information are secure and safe. It scans the web to check for unauthorized leaks and monitors your accounts every second, making it easy to take necessary actions before any disaster. Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection hunts your personal data and puts all the info in a single place securely for you. This allows you to gain a complete view of your data, starting from the early days to the present, and see precisely where your data is scattered and who has it. Sign up instantly and allow Bitdefender to check every corner of the dark web to get your data. It immediately reports the breach and ensures all your data is still safe. With Bitdefender, you can easily make decisions or click over 1-click action lists to close up the path and weak points. The Bitdefender monitoring dashboard helps you keep everything at your fingertips. It’s completely automatic, and you do not need to install it; just sign up and get ready. It supports Mac, mobile, PC, and other platforms. Keep your identity safe and protect your personal information with Bitdefender at $2.91/month. If you are not satisfied with the service, apply for a full refund within 30-days of purchase.
AVG BreachGuard
Protect your personal data, take complete control of online privacy, and avoid data breaches with AVG BreachGuard. It provides three layers of protection by:
Monitoring the dark web 24/7 for your leaked informationStoping third parties from using and collecting your dataGiving tips to boost your online privacy
BreachGuard spot the risk quickly and hacks from attackers to keep your data safe. It provides instant notification when there is any breach so that you can take action before it is too late. You can also scan your various passwords in different online accounts to know whether they are safe and receive suggestions to strengthen your passwords. Opt-out automatically from the advertisers who want to collect your info and marketers who collect your data to sell to third parties. You can also choose specific advertisers to send requests to stop using the data. In addition, remove your data from broker databases automatically and keep complete control over your info. BreachGuard is available on Edge, Firefox, Opera, Secure Browser, and Chrome. BreachGuard makes it easy to manage your privacy without increasing your hassles or killing much of your time. You can track everything and make immediate decisions with an easy-to-use dashboard whenever needed. It also gives you a complete overview of the privacy status to see how safe you are now and what further you can do to reduce risks. Buy AVG BreachGuard for your PC now at $39.99/year. It is also available for Mac, and you have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Conclusion
Data breaches are rising like sea tides, and keeping personal data secure and private is now a problem worldwide. Although you can’t stop attackers, you can reduce the risks by making your network and systems strong by using security technologies and systems discussed above. You may also be interested in All-in-one Premium Security Software.
