Business owners and CTOs are often worried about data loss. Most of these fears are not unfounded given the WannaCry ransomware attack on May 12, 2017, that affected over 230,000 mainframes across 150 countries. Another vicious attack took place just 2-months after, named the Petya ransomware hack, this cyber attack involved hackers infecting machines in 14-countries including the US, they then demanded a ransom to ensure the safe return of their stolen data. Thus, companies know that they are at serious risk of an attack, and no one is safe.
Different Causes of Data Loss
Data loss is not just caused by hackers, these are the most common reasons for data loss:
1). Human Error: Errors made by people like data deletion/ overwrites may be due to the careless management of technology by administrators. While cloud computing has definitely helped increase business continuity, the complexity of many enterprise software and lack of knowledge from users are also common causes for data loss.
2) Corrupted Files: Malfunctions or glitches in the operating system or an application can lead to unintended changes during the reading or writing of data onto the storage device and processing. Viruses and malware can also corrupt files.
3) Hacking: Even as technology advances to build more robust security measures, cybercriminals work to break through barriers for their own benefit. No one can ever really think that these hackers won’t target them, as their motives vary from demanding ransoms to terrorism.
4) Disasters: Nature is unpredictable. Disasters like an earthquake, a hurricane or a flood can strike without warning. Other categories of disasters include theft, fires, lack of security on-premise, etc. Under these circumstances, damage to storage and servers can often lead to data loss. Thus it is important to prepare yourself for a disaster by having a business continuity plan through a Managed Service Provider.
There are many unique ways in which data loss can occur. The key lies in identifying the shortcomings of your business security and improving your defenses.
The Value of Investing in a Data Loss Prevention Plan
You might not be able to prevent yourself from being the target of a breach, but by making the right investments in security you can mitigate against data loss. A data loss prevention plan can help protect your organization from data breaches and other attacks.
A typical Data Loss Prevention (DLP) plan limits access to users based on policy implementation and security software. A DLP uses various tools in combination with your IT infrastructure to filter, encrypt and transport data rapidly, efficiently and accurately within or outside of your organization.
The Managed IT Services Road to Data Loss Prevention
Let’s say you have decided on investing in data loss prevention and improving security measures for your business. How do you go about doing it?
Setting up fragmented systems that have to be implemented and monitored separately, can result in disparate links in your security despite your best efforts. Not to mention, hiring separate teams and setting up new systems have costs of their own. If you’re a small or medium- sized enterprise that is about to hit a key growth phase, you might not be able to sustain the complexity or the cost of these processes.
Here’s where Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can help greatly. MSPs have the required expertise and knowledge to align various solutions to your business goals, including security.
Rather than investing in a DLP plan and building a standalone tool in-house, partnering with a Managed IT Services Provider can shift the burden of security to a trusted third-party while allowing you to concentrate on your core processes that contribute to your bottom-line.
The consequences of data loss can be fatal for your business, and an MSP can act as your partner in such cases, taking you through the journey of safeguarding your data. ProV is a premier global IT service delivery company, providing world-class security, disaster recovery and business continuity options to keep your business going, no matter what.
Download our FREE The Ultimate Data Loss Prevention and Survival Guide below to understand how managed IT services can ensure data loss prevention and keep your business running, no matter what. For anything else, drop a comment below or contact us today.
