Today’s businesses increasingly rely on ever more advanced technology, and much of the technology goes toward the acquisition, management, and processing of data. The big data economy has been good for businesses of all shapes and sizes, but it takes a certain degree of knowledge and diligence to make data work for you. For example, the presence of all that valuable data on business networks is what makes companies a juicy target for hackers, making data security a major priority in today’s commercial landscape. Here’s what you need to know to keep your data, and your business, safe from bad actors.
E-commerce
Another major trend in digital age business is e-commerce. It stands to reason that by offering consumers more access to your business, not to mention additional quality of life features and convenience, you can take advantage of an increase in sales. However, Implementing e-commerce functionality into your business model requires additional data security considerations. For example, e-commerce apps rely on cloud computing, so a Kubernetes ingress controller is an important part of monitoring and regulating traffic within apps.
Likewise, the widespread development and implementation of these apps is thanks in large part to APIs. Application programming interfaces are programs designed to expedite the development cycles of e-commerce apps using templates and other tools, which has been a blessing. However, there’s a downside to relying on these shortcuts in the form of blindly accepting any potential security flaws of the API into your app. You’ll need to invest in API security to patch up any holes in your app’s security before launch to avoid cyber attacks and public outcry.
Network Security
Your business’s network will be the area in which the company itself will face the most risk, just by virtue of using it directly and constantly. It’s also worth mentioning there is always overlap between these systems, so taking care of your network is another way to take care of your consumers and vice versa. Getting started with network security is again a matter of monitoring traffic. For example, network traffic monitoring can expose some unusual behavior that may indicate an infiltration attempt in progress, allowing you to shut down a cyber attack before it even properly gets started. On the other hand, best practices can go a long way toward protecting your network.
Passwords, for example, are a time honored cybersecurity tool, but they are actually pretty flimsy thanks to the practice of using advanced hardware and software to “brute force” a password by rapidly trying all possible combinations of characters. A more secure alternative is passwordless authentication that uses a one-time-use, randomly generated, 4 digit code instead of a password, and that code is sent to the authorized user’s designated smart phone. This prevents the vast majority of fraudulent logins when implemented, because it forces hackers to somehow obtain the user’s smartphone before they can infiltrate the account, a practice that isn’t feasible when hackers operate remotely from the shadows.
Website Security
Another important battlefield when it comes to data security is your company website. Once again, there is overlap between this front and the others, especially where e-commerce is concerned. A company’s website typically offers services and features to consumers that are comparable to the functionality of an e-commerce app, and there are similar risks regarding the security of your customers’ financial information. The primary obstacle in this case is a simple and easy one to solve, however. Simply put, a brand new business website lacks the crucial cybersecurity feature known as encryption.
Encrypted data is data that has been scrambled as it is sent and received so that if it happens to be intercepted en route by hackers, it will be completely unusable without access to the cipher generated by the encryption and decryption protocols. Implementing encryption on your website is as simple as purchasing certification for a nominal fee. As an added bonus, this will help your company to avoid obscurity, because search engines tend to display secure websites first in search results to protect consumers.
