Data is everywhere. Brands thrive on customer data because it can tell them so much about consumer behavior and trends, allowing them to boost sales and long-term growth. But processing so much data means that data loss and breaches have also risen. Data loss can take various forms, ranging from minor instances such as the deletion of small datasets, to more severe cases like data theft, and even escalating to catastrophic events. Nonetheless, it is crucial to consistently strive to prevent any form of data loss.
Since data loss can impact your brand’s reputation and your customers’ digital safety, it’s important to have data loss prevention processes in place.
What is data loss prevention?
Data loss prevention (DLP) is the name for a set of processes designed for reducing and preventing data loss from your business. DLP processes may include:
- Anti-virus software
- Data protection training for your team
- Restricted, needs-must access to data
- Secure passwords
- Data encryption
How you approach data loss prevention will depend on the nature of your business (and therefore the type of data you collect and process), but it should always be a priority.
The cost of data loss
Data breaches and loss can be costly for your business, in more ways than one. These are some of the most common impacts of data loss, illustrating why you should invest in data protection measures.
1. Cost
Data loss can lead to heavy financial penalties in a few different areas. Not only could you end up having to pay a fine, you may have to compensate your customers, pay for external IT support or completely replace your data storage system.
Data breaches per target industry – Image Sourced from Statistica
2. Brand reputation
Brands can hold a lot of data on customers, some of it personal and identifying. For example, a basic ecommerce site may well collect email addresses, street addresses, names, payment information and passwords that, statistically, will be used elsewhere. If consumers cannot trust your brand to keep this information secure, then your brand reputation will suffer and you may see that it results in a dip in revenue.
3. Customer loyalty
Related to brand reputation, another area where data collection is common is through customer service. Whether you’re managing a call center or overseeing a CRM system, customer service is a huge part of customer loyalty, and your customers need to know that they can trust you to keep their data safe while they’re interacting with you.
Utilizing a local domain name, such as an MT domain name, for customers in Malta, can further enhance this trust by demonstrating your commitment to the local audience and their data security.
4. Legalities
As customer datasets grow in size and frequency, the law has changed to protect consumers where brands hold their data. If your business falls prey to a data leak, you could be open to fines or legal proceedings, particularly if the data loss involves sensitive or identifying information.
5 methods of data loss prevention
Despite the potential damaging effects of data loss and leaks, there are plenty of tools and techniques that you can use to keep your data safe and maintain customer trust.
1. Educate your team
Before you introduce any complex tools or data protection processes, you must educate your team on the basic principles of data loss prevention.
Whenever you introduce a new data processing or storage tool, you should conduct thorough usability testing with your team. What is usability testing, you ask? It is the process by which you test a new interface for ease of use and any bugs that hinder its functionality. The reason for doing this with data processing tools is this: you can avoid a lot of mistakes with a simple system that removes all possible complications.
2. Needs-based access
Whether it’s the law in your region or not, it’s important to only allow access to data where necessary.
For example, your customer service team may well need access to names, contact info and purchase history, but they may not need access to payment info or location until it directly relates to a customer query. Only allowing access to those who need it can prevent accidental loss, particularly when staff are working under pressure with a large amount of data.
3. Keep your hardware clean
Malware and viruses are a major cause of catastrophic data loss. Make sure to keep up-to-date on cyber attacks and trends in hacking to ensure that you’re properly protected against breaches.
Additionally, as part of your data loss prevention strategy, you might explore the benefits of virtualization technologies. Virtualization offers a powerful means to isolate critical systems from potential threats, enhancing your overall data security.
Industries most targeted by web app cyber attacks – Image Sourced from Statistica
You should also engage in regular training with your team on phishing and other malware emails, as company email filtration does not always catch these.
4. Encrypt sensitive data
If you can avoid storing and processing sensitive or protected data, then do. However, sometimes it can’t be avoided. To prevent loss or leaks of sensitive data, it should be encrypted whenever it is sent from one place to another. This means that, in transit, your data is translated into a random series of characters that can only be decoded by the system, when it reaches its destination.
When bringing in new encryption tools, or even building your own depending on your business sector, always try to introduce exploratory agile testing, to get to know your system and make sure that it works for you.
5. Backup your files
Backing up your files is essential for data security, for a number of reasons. Firstly, if your primary storage method fails, then you have not lost months or years worth of data that could negatively impact your growth.
Secondly, if your hardware becomes infected with malware or is otherwise compromised, then you can easily move your data onto another system, reducing the amount of time that third parties have to compromise your data.
Protect your data
Data protection for your company is easily integrated into training and business processes, and is absolutely worth any initial costs. Make sure that your team knows the importance of data protection and the measures that you have in place – as well as the process for reporting data breaches and preventing data loss in the future.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Stead – Content Marketing, Global App Testing
Adam Stead is a Content Marketer at Global App Testing, mobile app deployment and best-in-class software testing company that has helped top apps including Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Craigslist deliver high-quality software in markets across the world. Adam has 10 years of experience in editing, content creation and digital marketing within the tech section, with a wealth of Social Media Marketing, Content Creation, Project Management, Podcasting and Graphic Design skills. You can find him on LinkedIn.
