Understanding the common causes of data leaks is crucial for implementing effective cybersecurity measures. In this article, we explore five of the prominent causes, highlighting how they occur as well as examples to demonstrate the pervasiveness of data leaks.

Software Misconfiguration

Despite the apparent danger, many individuals and organizations leave default passwords unchanged. This is just one example of how misconfiguration of settings can allow attackers to infiltrate systems, databases, cloud services, applications, etc. At other times, a misconfiguration can occur when a program's settings do not align with the organization's security policy, and so permits unintended behavior.

This is basic cyber hygiene, but even big tech companies can leave certain things out. Back in 2021, for example, Microsoft made the news for the wrong reasons when 38 million customer records including sensitive information were exposed online due to a misconfiguration of its Power Apps portal service.

Particularly, organizations should be careful when migrating services or data to cloud environments – misconfigurations are common with this action and can arise simply from not following or not understanding the instructions.

Ransomware

According to a recent report on the state of ransomware, global ransomware attacks surged in the past year and recorded an all-time eye. Amidst these, the US is the biggest victim, suffering 43% of global recorded attacks, with zero-day exploitations by malicious actors playing a huge role in the increase in attacks.

So, ransomware attacks are not only growing in number but also in sophistication. And for this, organizations have to heighten their vigilance to prevent data leaks.

Source: Statista

Notably, DISH, the satellite broadcast company was hit by a ransomware attack in February. The attack led to significant outages in its internal servers and IT systems and leaked personal information belonging to about 300,000 people. But this is only one of the several ransomware attacks that have hit various organizations and facilities.

Data Theft

Over the past few years, insider attacks have become a growing concern, with malicious insiders becoming particularly a worry for data theft. Such concerns contributed to the development of zero-trust cybersecurity solutions since anyone can be a malicious insider, with greater risks assigned to privileged users with access to sensitive information.

Source: Statista

This is not to rule out the role of external elements in data theft, though. A German newspaper, earlier this year, ran a report detailing a myriad of safety concerns expressed by Tesla customers. According to the electric car company, the confidential data provided to the newspaper was stolen from its system, although it couldn't tell whether an insider was responsible or an external actor.

Third-Party Breach

Third-party breaches have become a particularly beneficial mode of attack for malicious actors because of the potential of acquiring several victims from just one hit. For instance, according to a third-party breach report, in 2022, 63 vendor attacks led to 298 data breaches across companies.

In January, two insurance companies – Aflac and Zurich Auto Insurance – suffered a data leak that affected millions of records including the information of at least 2 million policyholders with the two companies combined. According to reports, an unnamed US subcontractor was involved although it was not certain that both data breaches were connected.

This shows the cascading effects of third-party data breaches and underscores why organizations must stop at nothing to ensure that they only partner with companies and vendors that have strong security protocols in place.

Software (API) Vulnerability

APIs were a groundbreaking revelation in software development, but their proliferation has exacerbated the risks of data exposure since sensitive data is increasingly being shared via this medium. So, API vulnerabilities, such as broken authentication issues easily jeopardize the software's security and can allow malicious actors to access data illegally.

Source: VentureBeat

An API vulnerability in Twitter's software allowed threat actors to steal the email records of over 200 million users. Although this happened back in 2021 and the breach was fixed in January the following year, by mid-2022, the data sets started going on sale on the dark web and were eventually published for free. Email data are typical targets for phishing and social engineering attacks.

How to Prevent Data Leakage

Preventing data leakage is not an impossible task, although, due to the increasingly sophisticated nature of cyber attacks these days, it can be very tough to handle. However, these few steps should help you overcome the most common causes of data leakage.

1. Implement a strong data detection and response solution: Unlike traditional data loss prevention systems, DDR solutions prioritize behavioral analytics and real-time monitoring via machine learning to automatically identify and respond to data incidents.
2. Evaluate third-party risks: working with a third party, especially when it involves exchanging data, can no longer be business as usual. The risks of your partners are yours too, so you must know where both companies stand and how you can complement, not endanger, each other, security-wise.
3. Secure all endpoints: there has been a huge increase in the number of remote access points that communicate with business networks. Plus, they are dispersed too, and sometimes internationally. Adopting a zero-trust approach helps prevent endpoints from becoming leeway for attacks.
4. Cybersecurity hygiene: as identified earlier, data leakage can simply be due to unhygienic practices. Methods such as encryption, data backups, password management, etc. are not outdated; they should all be in place to help you maintain your guard.

Conclusion

Proactive measures, regular security assessments, and a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy are key to mitigating the risks associated with data leakage. As we have seen from the examples, every kind of business, even the biggest tech companies, suffers from this challenge. Therefore, data security is something that all business leaders must take seriously from now.

The post Most Common Causes of Data Leakage in 2023 appeared first on Datafloq.

The advent of advanced algorithms, Big Data, and the exponential increase in computing power has propelled AI‘s transition from theory to real-world apps.

However, AI has also unveiled a darker side, attracting cyber attackers to weaponize the technology and create havoc in ways unimaginable!

Deloitte states that 34.5% of organizations experienced targeted attacks on their accounting and financial data in 12 months. This shines a light on the importance of maintaining a risk register for tracking potential threats.

Another research further emphasizes this – a staggering 80% of cybersecurity decision-makers acknowledge the need for advanced cybersecurity defenses to combat offensive AI. Let us dive deep into the double-edged nature of the technology.

Top 4 AI-enabled phishing and cybersecurity threats to know

Cyber threats are on the rise, both in terms of complexity and volume. Here are four examples that are creating a buzz in today's security landscape for all the wrong reasons:

1. Deepfakes

This manipulative technique creates realistic-looking and highly convincing video, audio, and image content that impersonates individuals and organizations using AI algorithms.

Deepfakes can push fake news or negative propaganda to confuse or skew public opinion and imitate the victim's voice or appearance to gain unauthorized access to secure systems.

Using this technology, cyber attackers can instruct employees to perform actions that compromise the organization's security, such as sharing confidential data or transferring funds.

Remember when in 2019, the CEO of a UK-based energy firm got scammed into wiring 220,000 to a scammer's bank account because he thought he was speaking to his boss on the phone, who had the recognizable “subtle German accent?”

The voice, in fact, belonged to a fraudster who used AI voice technology to spoof the German chief executive. Deepfakes are known to make phishing attempts much more personable and believable!

2. Data poisoning

While data poisoning is typically associated with Machine Learning (ML), it can also be applied in the context of phishing.

It is a type of attack where misleading or incorrect information is intentionally inserted into a dataset to maneuver the dataset and minimize the accuracy of a model or system.

For example, most people know how prominent social media companies like Meta and Snap handle data. Yet, they willingly share personal info and photos on the platforms.

A data poisoning attack can be launched on these platforms by slowly corrupting data integrity within a system. Once the data gets tainted, it leads to several negative consequences, such as:

• Inaccurate predictions or assumptions
• Disruptions in day-to-day operations
• Manipulation of public opinion
• Biased decision-making

Ultimately, data poisoning is considered a catalyst for financial fraud, reputation damage, and identity threat.

3. Social engineering

It typically involves some form of psychological manipulation, fooling otherwise unsuspecting individuals into handing over confidential or sensitive information that may be used for fraudulent purposes.

Phishing is the most common type of social engineering attack. By leveraging ML algorithms, cyber attackers analyze volumes of data and craft convincing messages that bypass conventional cyber security measures.

These messages may appear to come from trusted sources, such as reputable organizations and banks. For example, you might have come across an SMS or email like:

• Congrats! You have a $500 Walmart gift card. Go to “http://bit.ly/45678” to claim it now.
• Your account has been temporarily locked. Please log in at “http://goo.gl/45678” to secure your account asap!
• Netflix is sending you a refund of $56.78. Please reply with your bank account and routing number to receive your money.

Cyber attackers want to evoke emotions like curiosity, urgency, or fear in such scenarios. They hope you would act impulsively without considering the risks, potentially leading to unauthorized access to critical data.

4. Malware-driven generative AI

The powerful capabilities of ChatGPT are now being used against enterprise systems, with the AI chatbot generating URLs, references, functions, and code libraries that do not exist.

Through this, cyber attackers can request a package to solve a specific coding problem only to receive multiple recommendations from the tool that may not even be published in legitimate repositories.

Replacing such non-existent packages with malicious ones could deceive future ChatGPT users into using faulty recommendations and downloading malware onto their systems.

How to protect your organization against AI phishing scams

As the sophistication levels of cyber attacks continue to evolve, it is essential to adopt several security measures to keep hackers at bay, including:

1. Implement the Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) protocol

As the name suggests, MFA is a multi-step account login process that requires additional info input than just a password. For instance, users might be asked to enter the code sent on their mobile, scan a fingerprint, or answer a secret question along with the password.

MFA adds an extra layer of security and reduces the chances of unauthorized access if credentials get compromised in a phishing attack.

2. Deploy advanced threat detection systems

These systems use ML algorithms to analyze patterns, identify anomalies, and proactively notify users about potentially dangerous behaviors such as deepfakes or adversarial activities, thereby giving organizations a leg up over cybercriminals and other threat actors.

Many Security Operational Centers use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) technology in tandem with AI and ML capabilities to enhance threat detection and notification.

The arrangement allows the IT teams to focus more on taking strategic actions than firefighting; it improves efficiency and cuts down the threat response time.

3. Establish Zero Trust architectures

Unlike traditional network security protocols focusing on keeping cyber attacks outside the network, Zero Trust has a different agenda. Instead, it follows strict ID verification guidelines for every user and device attempting to access organizational data.

It ensures that whenever a network gets compromised, it challenges all users and devices to prove that they are not the ones behind it. Zero Trust also limits access from inside a network.

For instance, if a cyber attacker has gained entry into a user's account, they cannot move within the network's apps. In a nutshell, embracing Zero Trust architectures and integrating them with a risk management register helps create a more secure environment.

4. Regularly update security software

This measure is commonly overlooked, and it is essential for maintaining a strong defense against AI-driven phishing and cyber security threats. Software updates include patches that address known anomalies and vulnerabilities, ensuring your systems are safe and secure.

5. Educate and train your employees

Training programs come in handy to raise awareness about the tactics employed by cyber attackers. You must, therefore, have the budget for teaching your employees different ways to identify various phishing attempts and best practices for responding to them.

Over to you

The role of AI in phishing indeed represents a frightening challenge in this day and age. Addressing such cybersecurity threats requires a multi-faceted approach, including user education, advanced detection systems, awareness programs, and responsible data usage practices.

Employing a systematic risk register project management approach can help you enhance your chances of safeguarding sensitive data and brand reputation. In addition, you should work closely with security vendors, industry groups, and government agencies to stay abreast of the latest threats and their remediation.

The post Digital Deception: Combating The New Wave Of AI-Enabled Phishing And Cyber Threats appeared first on Datafloq.

In this post, we focus on MSP cyber security, including main challenges, threats and practices. Read on to find out:

• Why an MSP should care about cyber security
• Which threats you need to counter the most
• How to protect your and clients' data and infrastructures from possible failures

MSP Security: Why is it important?

Managed service providers (MSPs) are usually connected to the environments of multiple clients. This fact alone makes an MSP a desired target for hackers. The opportunity to rapidly develop a cyberattack and spread the infections across a large number of organizations makes MSP security risks difficult to overestimate. A single vulnerability in an MSP solution can become a reason for failures in numerous infrastructures resulting in data leakage or loss. Apart from the loss of valuable assets, serious noncompliance fines can be applied to organizations that become victims of cyberattacks.

An MSP that fails to build and support proper security can not only be forced to pay significant funds. The main point here is the reputational loss that you usually cannot recover. Thus, the risk is not only financial: failed cybersecurity can cost you future profits and the very existence of your organization.

Main MSP cybersecurity threats in 2023

Although the types of online cybersecurity threats for MSPs are countless, some threats are more frequent than others. Below is the list of the most common threats that an MSP security system should be able to identify and counter.

Phishing

Phishing can be considered an outdated cyberattack method, especially when you pay attention to the competencies and possibilities of contemporary hackers. However, phishing is still remaining among the top data threats for individuals and organizations worldwide.

Simplicity is key here: a phishing email is easy to construct and then send to thousands of potential victims, including MSPs. And even if a hacker has a more thorough approach and creates individual, targeted emails to trick organizations' employees or clients, the phishing tactics still do not require much effort to conduct an attack.

Ransomware

With hundreds of millions of attacks occurring every year, ransomware has been an emerging threat for SMBs and enterprise organizations for at least a decade. Ransomware is malware that sneakily infiltrates an organization's environment and then starts encrypting all the data at reach. After a significant number of files is encrypted, the ransomware displays a notification about that fact along with a ransom demand. Many organizations have fallen victim to ransomware. The Colonial Pipeline incident in the US was also a ransomware case.

A Managed Service Provider must pay special attention to this threat as the connection between an MSP and clients can cause rapid strain spreading and global data loss inside the entire client network.

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks

Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are also “old-school” simple and effective hacking tactics used since the mid 90's. The point of a DoS or DDoS attack is to cause an abnormal load on an organization's infrastructure (a website, a network, a data centre, etc.), resulting in a system failure. A DoS attack most probably won't be the reason for data loss or damage, but the service downtime can become a source of operational discomfort and financial and reputational losses posing risks for the future of an organization.

A DoS attack is conducted with the use of hacker-controlled devices (bot networks) that send enormous data amounts to a target organization's nodes and overload processing performance capabilities and/or bandwidth. Again, a DoS attack on an MSP can then be spread to clients' environments and result in a system-wide failure.

Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks

This type of cyber threat is a bit trickier and more complicated to conduct than direct infrastructure strikes. A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack involves a hacker intruding, for example, into a network router or a computer, aiming to intercept traffic. After a successful malware intrusion, a hacker can monitor data traffic going through the compromised node and steal sensitive data, such as personal information, credentials, payment or credit card information, etc. This can also be a tactic suitable for corporate espionage and theft of business know-hows or commercial secrets.

Risky zones for becoming a victim of MITM attacks are, for example, public Wi-Fi networks. A public network rarely has an adequate level of protection, thus becoming an easy nut to crack for a hacker. The data stolen from the traffic of careless users can then be sold or used in other cyberattacks.

Cryptojacking

Cryptojacking is a relatively new cyber threat type that emerged along with the crypto mining boom. Willing to increase profits from crypto mining, cybercriminals came up with malicious agents that intrude on computers and then start using CPU and/or GPU processing power to mine cryptocurrencies, which then get transferred directly to anonymous wallets. Cybercriminals can get increased profits because they don't need to pay electricity bills for their mining equipment in this illegal case.

MSP solutions are desired targets for crypto-jackers. Such a solution can be a single point of access to the networks of multiple organizations with all the servers and other computing devices at their disposal. Thus, one cyberattack can bring a lot of resources for crypto-jacking to a hacker.

8 practices cybersecurity MSP organizations should use

Regarding the frequency and progressing level of threats, an MSP must have an up-to-date reliable cybersecurity system. The 8 MSP cyber security practices below can help you reduce the risk of protection failures.

Credential compromise and targeted attacks prevention

A managed service provider should know that their infrastructure will be among the priority targets for cyberattacks and build security systems appropriately. Hardening vulnerable nodes and tools for remote access (for example, virtual private networks) is the first step to prevent compromising credentials and the entire environment as a result.

Scan the system for potential vulnerabilities regularly, even when your daily production software and web apps are online. Additionally, consider setting standard protection measures for remote desktop (RDP) services connected to the web. That is how you can reduce the impact of phishing campaigns, password brute-forcing and other targeted attacks.

Cyber hygiene

Promoting cyber hygiene among staff members and clients is an efficient yet frequently underestimated way to enhance MSP cybersecurity. Although users and even admins tend to assume that relying on usual IT protection measures is enough, a Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum states that by 2022, 95% of all cyber security issues involve human error. An employee or a user that simply remains unaware of a threat is the most significant threat for digital environments.

Ensuring that staff and clients know which emails not to open, which links not to click and which credentials not to give out regardless of reasons, is one of the most efficient cybersecurity measures for any organization, including MSPs. Staff education and promotion of a thorough approach towards cyberspace among clients requires much less investment compared to other protection measures and solutions but can alone noticeably boost an organization's cybersecurity level.

Anti-malware and anti-ransomware software

The need for specialized software that can prevent malware from infiltrating the IT environment (and hunt malicious agents out of the system as well) may seem inevitable. However, organizations sometimes tend to postpone integrating such solutions in their systems. That's not an option for an MSP.

A managed service provider is the first line of defence for clients, and software for tracking malware and ransomware must be integrated and properly updated in an MSP cybersecurity circuit. The corporate license for such software can be costly, but this is when the investment pays off in safe data, stable production availability and a clean reputation among the worldwide IT community.

Networks separation

Like any SMB or enterprise organization, an MSP should care about internal network security not less than about the external perimeter. Configuring internal firewalls and separating virtual spaces of departments can require time and effort, but a protected internal network poses a serious challenge for an intruder to go through the barriers undetected. Additionally, even if internal firewalls fail to stop a hacker at once, early threat detection can give an organization more time to react and successfully counter a cyberattack.

Thorough offboarding workflows

To ensure stable production and provide appropriate performance, MSPs use third-party software solutions. Whenever a solution is no longer required due to, for example, a workflow optimization, that outdated solution should be properly excluded from an organization's environment. To avoid leaving undetected backdoors, the offboarding process must be set up to completely wipe the solution's elements out of the infrastructure.

The same recommendation is relevant to the accounts of former employees and clients. Such an unused account can remain below the radar of an IT team, giving a hacker additional space to maneuver both when planning and conducting a cyberattack.

Zero trust and the principle of least privilege

Zero trust and the principle of least privilege (aka PoLP) are two cybersecurity methods that an MSP should apply. Both methods are called to limit access to critical data and system elements as much as possible.

PoLP prescribes granting every user inside an environment only access that is required to do their job well. In other words, any access that can be prohibited without harming an employee's efficiency or a client's comfort should be prohibited.

The zero trust method is, in turn, focused on authorization. Here, every user and machine must authenticate before getting access to known resources and actions. Additionally, zero trust can help increase network segmentation efficiency.

These two methods don't exclude or replace each other and can be used simultaneously to boost MSP cybersecurity even further.

Multi-factor authentication

Nowadays, a password that is considered reliable may still not be enough to protect accounts and data from unauthorized access. Adding a two-factor authentication to an MSP infrastructure can strengthen the protection of the entire environment, as the password alone won't be enough to log in. Two-factor authentication (2FA) requires a user to confirm a login with an SMS code or another authorization phrase before they can access their account, change data and manipulate functions. The additional code is generated randomly at the moment of login and has a limited relevance period, thus becoming challenging for a hacker to retrieve and use on time.

Non-stop threat monitoring

Threats are evolving to become more sophisticated and to break through security layers more efficiently. Thus, 24/7 active monitoring of the environment can help you detect breaches and vulnerabilities before they cause unfixable failures. With up-to-date monitoring software, you can have more control over your IT environment and more time to appropriately react to cyberattacks.

Backup for MSP: Your safety net when all else fails

The non-stop intense development of cyberthreats means that sooner or later, a hacker can find a key to any security system. The only solution that can help you save your organization's data and infrastructure after a major data loss incident is backup.

A backup is a copy of data that is stored independently. In case the original data at the main site is lost after a breach, a backup can be used for recovery. The amount of data to generate, process and store to ensure the proper functioning of an organization makes manual and legacy backups unsuitable for the MSP reality.

With the contemporary data protection solution, you can smoothly integrate backup and recovery workflows into your and your client's IT infrastructures. The all-in-one solution enables automated data backup, replication and recovery on schedule or on demand. The solution by NAKIVO is easy to administer, has built-in security features (ransomware protection, two-factor authentication, role-based access control) and a cost-efficient per-workload subscription model.

Conclusion

In 2023 and beyond, managed service providers are bound to remain desired targets for cyberattacks from phishing, and DoS-attack attempts to ransomware infection and crypto jacking. To ensure MSP cybersecurity, such organizations should:

• Create protection systems working against targeted attacks and malware,
• Promote cyber hygiene among employees and clients,
• Apply network segmentation, PoLP and non-stop monitoring to the entire environment.

Additionally, MSPs might want to consider integrating multi-factor authentication and thorough offboarding workflows for solutions and employees. However, a functional MSP backup is the only solid way to maintain control over an organization's data in case of a major data loss incident.

The post MSP Cybersecurity: What You Should Know appeared first on Datafloq.

Intelligent Threat Detection

Using ChatGPT, businesses can enhance their data security by leveraging intelligent threat detection capabilities. According to a Grow.com, ChatGPT can analyze patterns, anomalies, and suspicious activities within textual data to identify potential security threats. By providing real-time alerts and recommendations, ChatGPT assists businesses in early threat detection, enhancing their overall security posture. Additionally, the article on LinkedIn highlights how ChatGPT can enable multi-factor authentication for sensitive systems, further strengthening data security measures.

Data Leakage Prevention

ChatGPT can play a crucial role in preventing data leakage and ensuring data security within organizations. As mentioned in an article on Analytics Insight, ChatGPT can monitor and analyze internal and external communications, such as emails and chat logs, to identify sensitive information being shared inappropriately or outside authorized channels. This capability enables businesses to mitigate the risk of data breaches and safeguard critical information.

User Behavior Analytics

Effective user behavior analytics is essential for identifying potential security threats. The integration of ChatGPT in business networks enhances user behavior analytics capabilities. According to Cyclr, ChatGPT's ability to analyze vast amounts of user-generated data enables the detection of anomalous user behavior, such as unauthorized access attempts or unusual login patterns. This allows organizations to proactively respond to potential security incidents and protect their systems and data from unauthorized access.

Phishing and Social Engineering Defense

Phishing attacks and social engineering pose significant security challenges for businesses. ChatGPT can assist in mitigating these threats. The Sinch blog explains how ChatGPT can analyze suspicious emails, messages, or website content to recognize common phishing techniques. By providing real-time guidance and education to employees, ChatGPT helps reduce the likelihood of falling victim to these fraudulent schemes, enhancing overall security.

Compliance and Policy Enforcement

ChatGPT can support businesses in maintaining regulatory compliance and enforcing internal policies. According to Grow.com, ChatGPT can analyze textual data to identify compliance violations and policy breaches. By flagging potential policy violations, ChatGPT promotes a culture of compliance and reduces the risk of penalties or legal consequences.

Conclusion

Incorporating ChatGPT into business security strategies can significantly enhance overall security measures. With its intelligent threat detection capabilities, data leakage prevention, user behavior analytics, defense against phishing and social engineering attacks, and policy enforcement support, ChatGPT acts as a powerful AI solution to bolster business security. By leveraging the unique features of ChatGPT, organizations can stay one step ahead of potential threats, safeguard critical data, and maintain a robust security posture in today's ever-evolving threat landscape.

The post How ChatGPT Enhances Business Security appeared first on Datafloq.

What is awareness of cyber security?

Cybersecurity awareness is the knowledge and comprehension of potential internet risks and recommended procedures for safeguarding confidential data. It entails developing a culture of alert and responsibility about cybersecurity, educating staff members on the dangers posed by cybercrime, and teaching them how to recognize and respond to possible threats, and cybersecurity within the organisation.

Why It's Important to Be Aware of Cybersecurity

1. Human Error – Employee error is frequently the weakest point in a company's cybersecurity defence. Cybercriminals may gain access through unintentional errors like clicking on phishing emails or using weak passwords. Employees can learn to identify potential hazards and take preventative measures to avoid becoming victims by increasing awareness.
2. Evolving threat landscape – Cyberthreat landscape is always changing as hackers create new methods to find and attack weaknesses. Employees who receive regular cybersecurity awareness training are kept up to date on the most recent trends and cybercriminal techniques, which enables them to recognize and efficiently manage possible threats.
3. Data protection – Important assets that need to be safeguarded include confidential corporate information, customer data, and intellectual property. Employees that are trained in cybersecurity are made aware of the value of protecting data, following security procedures, and using secure practices. This in turn promotes the loyalty and trust of clients and business associates.
4. Laws and adherence – Diverse domains of the economy teem with onerous regulations and compliance standards, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Noncompliance can unleash grave financial and legal consequences. Businesses can make sure that staff are aware of their duties and the potential repercussions of non-compliance by promoting cybersecurity awareness.

5 Ways to Increase Employee Cybersecurity Awareness

1. Training Programs – Implement frequent cybersecurity training courses that cover subjects including spotting phishing emails, making strong passwords, using secure Wi-Fi, and spotting social engineering tricks. These courses should be tailored to various job functions and degrees of technical skill and can be delivered through workshops, webinars, or online modules.
2. Simulated phishing exercises – These give workers the chance to practice dealing with real-world situations in a secure setting. Businesses can identify knowledge gaps and deliver focused training to increase their employees' capacity to recognize and report phishing attempts by sending imitation phishing emails and tracking employees' reactions.
3. Clear Security Policies – Develop succinct and unambiguous security policies that specify the expected conduct and duties of employees with regard to cybersecurity. These guidelines ought to include matters like proper password usage, acceptable use of corporate resources, data handling practices, and reporting security incidents. To make sure that the policies are constantly on the minds of the employees, communicate and reiterate them frequently.
4. Encourage Reporting – Promote an atmosphere of open dialogue among staff members and encourage them to immediately report any suspicious behaviour or potential security incidents. Establish explicit reporting routes, such as a specific email address or a secure system. Reward staff members who uphold sound security procedures or report security flaws to establish a positive feedback loop.
5. Awareness Campaigns – Continuous awareness initiatives that involve frequent reminders, posters, newsletters, and internal communications are used to reinforce cybersecurity knowledge. Current risks should be highlighted, best practices shared, and the value of cybersecurity for the organization and its stakeholders should all be highlighted in these efforts.

Why Should Businesses Spread Awareness About Cybersecurity?

Several factors make raising awareness about cybersecurity crucial:

1. chance reduction: By enabling staff members to recognize and minimize potential dangers, cybersecurity awareness training lowers the chance of successful cyberattacks. Businesses can avoid expensive data breaches, financial losses, and brand damage by investing in employee education.
2. Competitive Advantage: A corporation can stand out from its rivals by showcasing a dedication to cybersecurity knowledge. Security-conscious companies are more likely to have the trust of their customers and business partners, which increases consumer loyalty and opens up new market prospects.
3. Regulatory Compliance: For firms working in a variety of areas, compliance with industry regulations and data protection legislation is essential. Organizations can comply with these standards and avoid fines or legal repercussions by using cybersecurity awareness programs.
4. Employee Morale and Engagement: Offering employees cybersecurity education and tools shows a dedication to their growth on both a personal and professional level. This investment boosts staff morale, engagement, and retention while cultivating a sense of security.

Conclusion

Giving employees cybersecurity awareness is essential in a time when cyber threats are always evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Businesses may greatly improve their cybersecurity posture by educating staff about potential threats, adopting effective training programs, and fostering a culture of alertness. Promoting cybersecurity knowledge is not just a preventative measure against cyberattacks but also a calculated move that safeguards priceless assets builds customer confidence and guarantees regulatory compliance. Organizations can enable their staff to serve as the first line of defence by providing ongoing education and reinforcement.

The post Empowering Your Workforce: How to Foster Cybersecurity Awareness in Employees appeared first on Datafloq.

It is, therefore, concerning that most data security advice focuses on preventing intrusions and breaches while placing less emphasis on or misunderstanding data exfiltration, which can be just as dangerous.

Whether malicious or unintentional, data exfiltration is a challenge to be addressed and this article shows you four ways to do just that and protect your organization from harm.

Types of Data Exfiltration Events

Data exfiltration occurs in various forms, some of which are considered below:

• Social engineering and phishing attacks: because of the smart manipulation that takes place via social engineering, phishing attacks are among the easiest to attack people and organizations with. In 2022, there were over 500 million recorded phishing attacks, more than double the figures for 2021.
• Human error and procedural issues: recently, a forensic deficiency was determined to be the cause of a security issue with Google Workspace that caused invisible data exfiltration.
• Poor permissions policy: most data exfiltration attacks can be mitigated by having appropriate permissions set in the first place. Normally, employees should not have access to more data than they need to perform their functions at every given time, and each person must be trained on appropriate security procedures for their permission level.
• Outbound emails: emails are a treasure trove of information for attackers because they contain sensitive company instructions, calendar schedules, business forecasts, critical documents and other resources, as well as source codes, among others. Sending sensitive documents over email to untrusted parties, without encryption in place is a common cause of data exfiltration.
• Data transmission to unauthorized devices: This can happen in either of two ways: via unauthorized downloads to insecure devices, or by uploads to external devices. Either way, there must be an unauthorized device involved, and if the data is stored on the cloud, it must first be downloaded before it can be compromised.
• Ransomware: although not typically considered a data exfiltration technique, ransomware can involve data exfiltration, especially as an additional tactic to increase the pressure on the victim or to extract more money.

Strategies to Mitigate Data Exfiltration

Many organizations have an outward-looking security strategy; however, preventing data exfiltration requires an inward-looking approach that focuses on data leaving the network. Here are some strategies that can be applied by organizations:
 

1. The Role of Organizational Culture

Several data exfiltration events occur due to human blunders and indiscretions. And much of this can be mitigated simply by keeping employees well-informed and proactive about security, recognizing their role as a critical line of defense in protecting the organization.

Merely getting people to take security education courses does not cut it anymore, since cyber threats are increasing in volume, scale, and complexity by the day. A better approach to keep employees on their toes is to integrate awareness into the very culture of the organization.

That means being trained to recognize common signs of data exfiltration attempts and reporting all suspicions to the IT team. There should also be clear policies and procedures to protect data. A few best practices that can be implemented include:

• Prohibiting downloads of sensitive data stored on the cloud
• Blocking access to insecure websites over the company network
• Preventing the installation of unauthorized software on devices that can access sensitive data
• Proactive access management by frequently reviewing permissions

2. Adopt the Right Technologies

According to an ethical hacking study, more than 60% of hackers can exfiltrate data in less than five hours once they gain access to a system. This underscores the importance of having strong technical defenses in place.

Some modern technologies that can enhance your defenses against data exfiltration include the following:

• Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB): required intermediaries that offer visibility and control across cloud services via encryption, behavior analytics, data loss prevention, etc.
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): it's important to set granular access controls to prevent misuse of privileges. Ideally, access should be granted on a role-based, least-privileged, and zero-trust basis to minimize risks.
• Data Detection and Response (DDR): DDR addresses traditional challenges with data security by combining intelligent analytics with real-time data monitoring. Basically, it enables you to follow the data everywhere, particularly when it is in motion and most at risk.
   

3. Continuous Risk Evaluation

Cloud computing, IoT, and endpoints expansion are some developments in organizational culture that have transformed the dynamics of risk management in recent times. Now, risk evaluation must be a continuous activity to detect threats and vulnerabilities across every network, device, application, and user.

Maintaining a regular log of devices and activities on the network makes it easy to detect and flag unusual events. These can then be evaluated to identify the nature and scope of the threat if indeed they are data exfiltration attempts. Hence, continuous risk evaluation must involve real-time monitoring.

Besides enabling quicker incident response, it also enables the IT team to proactively update security measures to thwart emerging threats, as well as to enforce compliance with organizational security policies. Even the ‘simple' act of scanning all emails, especially those sent or received by systems/users with access to sensitive data, can prevent several incidents of unauthorized data transmission.

4. Conduct Periodic Audits

Besides continuous risk evaluations, there should also be regular wide-scale audits, at least, twice a year, to sweep through the organization in order to detect possible vulnerabilities. Different from continuous monitoring, periodic audits are systematic reviews of the organization's security infrastructure, policies, practices, and even humans.

For instance, it is important to audit the set of privileged users who have access to sensitive data and assess their activities to ensure that they are not performing actions that inadvertently put organizational data at risk.

Following each major audit, there should be new directions and instructions for network configurations, access controls, user privileges, data storage practices, and much more. The aim is to identify and eliminate potential sources of weakness and strengthen the organization's defenses before those weak points are exploited.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that data exfiltration is a constantly evolving threat, and organizations must be prepared to adapt their defenses accordingly. By staying up-to-date on the latest security threats and implementing effective security measures, organizations can protect themselves from data exfiltration and its devastating consequences.

The post Mitigating Data Exfiltration: 4 Ways to Detect and Respond to Unauthorized Data Transfers appeared first on Datafloq.

One of the most important roles of the OSI framework is data privacy and security. It does not only enable communication; it does this with the utmost regard for confidentiality. Nowadays, given the aggressiveness of cyber attacks, this is not optional but imperative.

OSI model: is it still relevant?

Before discussing OSI's role in ensuring data confidentiality, here's an important question to address: is it still relevant? With the emergence of various security protocols, standards, and solutions, it makes sense to address the questions on the framework's applicability in modern computing.

The short answer is yes, OSI continues to be relevant. However, the reality is that the TCP/IP model is more popular in today's computing systems, as it provides more practical benefits. Nevertheless, the OSI model has its benefits, particularly it comes to troubleshooting, flexibility, and as a tool for teaching network communications.

The OSI model allows IT teams to more easily classify their IT assets at different layers. As such, it makes it easy to find, understand, and resolve problems because of the clear distinction in different layers. It is different from TCP/IP, which has the top three layers (more on this below) integrated into a single layer.

When it comes to flexibility, OSI provides the advantage of supporting connection-oriented and connectionless services. It is also designed to provide layer independence, protocol interoperability, and end-to-end communication regardless of the service type employed.

Moreover, the OSI model is useful in educating those who are new to networking and software-hardware dynamics. Because of its relatively simple nature and flexibility, this model provides an easy way to understand networking concepts. It does not have the ambiguity and complexity of other models, especially in terms of layers and security implications.

Seven layers

The OSI model consists of seven layers. These are the physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation, and application layers. Every layer serves a critical role in the networking stack, operating with the layers next to them through the exchange of protocol data units.

The first layer, the physical layer, is the point where the physical transmission of the raw bitstream takes place. In this layer, the transmitted bits are converted to electric, radio, or light signals.

The second layer is called the data link layer. It is responsible for digesting data into frames to be moved to the physical layer. It is also in this layer where connections between nodes are managed. Here, data connections are set up and identified. If there are bit errors (that come from the physical layer) encountered, they are resolved in this layer. Also, once a data connection session is completed, it is terminated in the data link layer.

From the data link layer, where connections are on a point-to-point basis, the connections expand into many interconnected nodes at the network layer. This is the third layer, where traffic is routed to their intended destinations based on IP addresses. The network layer also enables the implementation of VPNs.

As mentioned earlier, the three layers above are the top three layers that are separate in the OSI model but are fused as a single layer in the TCP/IP model. As described, their roles are quite distinct from each other, so there is an advantage in having them as separate leaders. It simplifies processes and makes it easy to understand the system and troubleshoot.

The fourth layer is the foremost component of the so-called “host” layers (the four other layers besides the first three). It is called the transport layer, where data transmission between nodes is managed. It is in this layer where the data arrival sequence is ascertained and errors are resolved. This is the layer where the Transmission Control Protocol works.

The fifth is the session layer. As the name suggests, this is the layer where sessions between nodes are managed. Management here usually entails setup, authentication, termination, and reconnection processes.

Sixth on the list is the presentation layer. This is where data from network data is translated into formats that are compatible with the specific applications requesting the data. It is also in this layer where data encoding and encryption are handled.

Lastly, the seventh layer is called the application layer. It is the layer facing end users, where data transmission between a web server and a client takes place. The HTTP protocol, for example, operates in this layer.

How does the OSI model keep data secure?

The OSI data model is not a data security solution or protocol. However, it plays a role in data security because of the way it is designed. Its structured approach in enabling network communications and more granular layers supports the implementation of more security mechanisms.

The OSI model makes it possible to add security controls at the physical, data link, and network layers, unlike in the TCP/IP model where these three layers are joined together as a single layer. At the physical layer, organizations can add restrictions for equipment access or video surveillance to make unauthorized access and network tampering difficult or at least extremely cumbersome.

With the data layer, organizations can impose MAC address filtering to make sure that unauthorized access attempts are prevented. They can also implement link-level encryption to counter eavesdropping or data transmission interception tactics.

In terms of network layer security, organizations can put up firewalls, VPNs, or network traffic control systems. These solutions make it possible to specify policies and restrictions over data transmissions, especially the data being routed to various destinations. It makes it possible to create secure tunnels over public networks (through VPNs).

Separate security mechanisms can then be added to the other layers, namely the transport, session, presentation, and application layers. Organizations can create more robust security measures or cyber defenses with the OSI model because it has more layers for network communications and it is compatible with complex and multifaceted cyber defenses including user access controls, security audits, and intrusion detection systems.

Enabling security and confidentiality

Having more layers may be an advantage for the OSI model, but it can also be a drawback because it means more attack surfaces or opportunities for threat actors to find vulnerabilities. Cybercriminals, for example, can find weaknesses at the data link layer to siphon data or intercept the transmission of sensitive information. Nevertheless, with the right knowledge and understanding of the model, it should not be difficult to implement suitable solutions to ensure security and the confidential handling of data across different layers. With its layered structure and well-defined functions, the OSI model affords a comprehensive framework for implementing data security measures.

The post Safeguarding Confidentiality: The OSI Model’s Role in Data Security appeared first on Datafloq.

Combined with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) as well as Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) tools, the use of XDR is the best bet for organizations that aren't mature enough to implement a fully-fledged Security Operations Center (SOC).

For many corporate security teams, XDR is still just another acronym with hardly any hands-on implications. That said, let's shine a light on the features of these systems and dwell on the ways this growing industry will reshape the cybersecurity landscape going forward.

XDR Technology 101

In recent years, XDR solutions have seen a spike in deployment across the enterprise ecosystem to build and enhance the comprehensive protection of networks, increase the efficiency of incident response, and conduct in-depth cybersecurity investigations. So, what is XDR anyway? What is it for? And what are the ultimate benefits of using this technology?

XDR was created to tackle threat actors' multi-pronged approaches to infiltrating systems that result in compromising multiple layers of an organization's infrastructure in one go. It boasts highly accurate automatic detection based on behavioral analysis at all levels: the host, the network, and even in isolated environments. A product like this can flexibly fit into a digital infrastructure and supports effective threat emulation.

There are three major components of XDR:

• Continuous monitoring of endpoint devices, the network, and other sources to record all security events like a “black box” on an airplane.
• Automatic detection of anomalous activity on endpoints and the network based on signatures that are not available to Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) systems.
• Manual detection, also known as “hunting”, which gives IT teams the big picture of how exactly the attacker has acted.

Is XDR a Product or a Concept?

There are different perspectives on this. Most experts think of XDR as a product. Some consider it to be an overarching cross-product concept that emerged to address the demands of the market and customers in light of increasingly sophisticated and polymorphic threats. Regardless of categorization, it is not so important for the end-user how to categorize XDR as long as it does the protection job properly.

The InfoSec skills gap is one of the reasons the market needs XDR solutions. Such a system allows organizations to automate and unify a plethora of security-related workflows while optimizing event monitoring and metrics, which makes it much easier to ensure a decent level of protection. Top-notch XDR tools support the option to subscribe to extra services, for example, deeper forensic analysis and proactive threat hunting.

“Data Lake” as the Cornerstone of XDR

An arbitrary event is recorded in two databases: one for long-term storage used to parse incidents that took place, say, six months ago; and the other for parsing current incidents. This way, data is amassed from multiple sources and processed quickly. The customer prioritizes the sources they need to monitor, and the vendor can independently collect additional materials. The entirety of this information is referred to as the “data lake”, and that's the fundamental entity XDR leverages to do its thing.

Choosing an Optimal XDR System

It's worth highlighting several key points that will help a company make an informed decision when selecting the most suitable XDR solution:

• Incident detection and investigation features are paramount.
• The ease of investigation is important as well due to the large number of datasets accumulated along the way.
• The tool should support different operating systems for maximum coverage of network architectures.
• It makes sense to question the provider's inner workings in terms of the software development life cycle (SDLC), from design and deployment – to support and maintenance.

Another important criterion is the ability to stretch functionality outside the original IT environment. Collecting data from more infrastructure devices takes detection and investigation to the next level. A tool worth its salt should support integration with third-party systems as well.

From the end-user's angle, the most important thing is to be able to simply connect all data sources to XDR in a hassle-free way. This amounts to a trio of basic criteria: easy setup, efficiency, and usability.

How Does XDR Detect Complex Attacks?

Generally speaking, the functioning of XDR is based on two components: the host part and the correlation kernel that collects data from the network and the hosts. Different products work differently in terms of the load they put on the host. A common denominator is that all XDR tools efficiently leverage machine learning, which helps identify malware attacks as well as intrusion attempts on the go. The customer can create detection rules of their own, while the vendor supplies additional rules and updates them further on.

Cross-detection is another incredibly important feature of XDR. For example, if a malicious object is extracted from email traffic, the suspicious signature will be automatically blocked on all hosts. The hash of the malicious file flows from one client (as long as it's not isolated) into a shared database and is then synchronized between all clients.

XDR in the Context of SOC

In most scenarios, XDR can work without SOC, but it all depends on the specific tasks. Using SOC is a must if an infrastructure spans thousands of machines. On the other hand, XDR can be delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Essentially, XDR and EDR are data enrichment tools for SOCs which, in their turn, use SIEM-based systems to operate. In this complex fusion, XDR acts as the main source of security-related data.

XDR can also be effective for organizations that are not yet ripe for implementing SOC but seek to monitor, automate, and investigate cyber incidents. It will maximize the efficiency of these workflows. Plus, it can be a great SOC alternative for some companies.

XDR vs SOAR

First things first, these are architecturally different solutions. The idea behind SOAR is to integrate “everything with everything else”, while XDR helps you respond very quickly and very accurately, automating many processes and facilitating the work of SOC analysts. SOAR can't perform fast processing of large amounts of data and make decisions based on behavioral analysis.

Additional advantages of XDR include manual incident response options, effective actions at the host level, automatic actions at the level of other systems, and firewall optimization. Unsurprisingly, many companies use both solutions. In the future, these two approaches will likely merge and complement each other. The market's choice will dot the i's and cross the t's in this context.

XDR Market Trends and Forecasts

Most analysts believe XDR will become a mass phenomenon in the next three to five years. Such products are in demand because they are convenient for everyone seeking to have a bird's-eye view of what is going on inside the IT infrastructure. Vendors will also continue to enhance their XDR tools and will connect more cross-product functions. Chances are that some sort of a hybrid instrument will appear, and everything will be wrapped up in a new marketing shell while the basic concept will remain the same.

Conclusion

XDR solutions appear to be incredibly promising. They are developed by leading vendors in the cybersecurity sector and are a natural evolutionary step in providing comprehensive protection. XDR boasts high-speed processing of large amounts of logs collected from all key infrastructure nodes over any specified period, giving the administrator actionable insights into what is happening inside the perimeter.

By applying behavioral algorithms and machine learning, XDR paves the way toward efficient and timely incident response, a rollback of an attacker's activity, and the enhancement of defense layers. XDR solutions are fairly pricey to deploy, and yet the cost is lower than that of implementing individual components that will not be linked seamlessly in a single ecosystem.

XDR systems are worthwhile for companies that don't have a SOC in place but are looking for a professional end-to-end incident investigation solution. It also works well with SIEM / SOAR models already in use, significantly speeding up incident management. In the next few years, the XDR market will go through significant enhancements in response to the growing need for such a comprehensive product among businesses.

The post Demystifying the Capabilities of XDR Solutions appeared first on Datafloq.

PCs and smartphones are frequently ignorant about the risk zones. Be that as it may, the web does not need to be a steady excursion through the barren wilderness. To remain safe on the web, you should first comprehend what to stay away from and how to safeguard yourself.

The following are five things in your control to assist with protecting your computerized action.

1. QR Codes, Helpful, however, Possibly Unsafe

QR codes can also lead you to an unsavoury location where malware or something more heinous is lurking, QR codes can be modified to connect to anything, putting your protection and security at enormous risk.

Think before you scan a QR code. It is likely protected on the off chance that the code is shown on a site or printed record you trust. If not, or if you are uncertain, look at it.

You can download trustworthy QR code applications that will play out a security check and keep an eye on the endpoint of the QR code's objective. One well-being device I use is the Pattern Miniature QR Scanner application, which is accessible for Android and iOS

2. Avoid ‘Unsubscribe' Email Scams

This famous continuous trick has a high achievement rate for programmers. Potential victims receive an email with a product offer or other business solicitation. The quit activity step is alluring, looks natural, and sounds sensible. “Try not to need to accept our messages.” “Snap here to withdraw,” it calls.

Now and again, the irritating recurrent messages Inquire as to whether you need to withdraw from future messages. It will cost you a lot of money to cancel your membership.

Choose none of the options. Tapping on the connections or answering confirms your dynamic location.

Never input your email address in the “withdraw me” field. More shippers will follow.

An improved answer for erasing undesirable messages, particularly those from an obscure sender, is to mark them as spam. That moves it to the spam folder. You can add that sender to your email program's block list or set up a channel to delete it before it reaches your inbox.

At last, cybersecurity, look at the free assistance. There, you can withdraw from undesirable messages, keep others, or get the rest in an everyday condensate.

3. Use multi-factor verification

Passwords are one of the most sought-after bits of information by cybercriminals, even though using one is better than not using one for keeping your accounts private. Attackers can use an account with someone else's login to send messages to pals and search through papers, pictures, and social media accounts for confidential personal information like bank account information if it is stored in apps. If your password is deemed weak, hackers might be able to predict it or break it using brute-force assault.

Even if your password is secure, there is a chance that it could still be compromised by a hacking assault, which could be directed either at you or at the business managing the account. Because of this, you should use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect the accounts you use on your smartphone. If your password is ever phished, an alert will appear asking you if you were the one who entered the account. If it wasn't you, sign in right away, change your password, and make sure to log out of any other open sessions using your computer. The easiest method to secure your phone if you're particularly security-conscious is to use a physical security key. To access your accounts using this type of multi-factor authentication, the attacker must be literally in possession of a security key, which they won't have unless they've managed to take it from you.

You can use security keys for Apple ID, which enables you to use a hardware key as an additional tier of verification if you're using an iPhone running iOS 16.3 or later. As previously mentioned, security keys for Apple ID are linked to your Apple ID and require your login, password, and physical key to access your account or device. To access your account, you must have the physical key; this keeps hackers from directly intercepting MFA access codes sent via an app or SMS. Although MFA adds a great degree of security to your smartphone and accounts, it's important to keep in mind that it still has limitations.

4. Secure Your Wi-Fi Router

Wireless internet, or Wi-Fi, access has turned into a need in the home and work environment, but it can also make a way for gamblers, tricksters, and personality criminals. Whether in your home or office, an unstable Wi-Fi switch running on the default manufacturer settings could be an obligation with regards to programmers and Wi-Fi vagrants getting to your confidential data and troubling your broadband.

If your Wi-Fi network isn't working as expected-it has a public IP address and no unique Wi-Fi secret word-you may be allowing anyone with a remote-enabled gadget access. You probably won't be concerned about someone using your remote association, yet the genuine danger is disclosing sensitive data you send and receive-your messages, banking data, and possibly your smart home's daily schedule-to cybercriminals.

5. Be careful with Fake Technical support Plans

Some fraudsters approach you on the phone and let you know they are a technical support division working for a notable PC or programming organization. The guest professes to bring a caution from your PC about an infection location or malware on your gadget. The con artist offers to repair it if you simply provide your Mastercard number.

Cybersecurity. Your PC isn't tainted. A modified form of this technical support trick is a text or email guaranteeing similar subtleties. Try not to answer. Simply erase the message and continue. You could likewise be perusing the web when a pop-up message crashes onto your screen. I have gotten exceptionally clear warnings cautioning me that my PC is in danger and not to switch it off without asking for help.

In this plethora of cases, the con artists must alarm you before you follow their instructions. They claim that the action you should take to allow them to fix the alleged problem will harm your financial balance and may allow them to send genuine contamination.

If you suspect your PC has an infection or malware issue, start contacting a maintenance community yourself. Cybersecurity most likely has a help plan or dynamic guarantee from the store where you purchased the PC.

The post 5 Best CyberSecurity Tips to Survive from Hackers in 2023 appeared first on Datafloq.

Data encryption and data tokenization are both methods of protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access. Both methods aim to keep data secure by rendering it unreadable to anyone who does not have the appropriate access. However, the two methods differ in their approach, and each has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.

What is data encryption, and how does it work?

Data encryption is the process of transforming plaintext into ciphertext using an algorithm and a key. The algorithm takes both the plaintext and the key as inputs and generates ciphertext as output. The key is used to scramble the plaintext in a way that makes it unreadable to anyone who does not have the key.

There are two types of data encryption: symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption.

• Symmetric encryption employs a single key for both encrypting and decrypting the data. This means that anyone who possesses the key can perform both tasks. Due to this reason, symmetric encryption is typically faster than asymmetric encryption, but it is less secure.
• Asymmetric encryption uses two keys: a public key and a private key. The public key is used for encryption, and the private key is used for decryption. This implies that anyone can encrypt data using the public key, but only the individual possessing the private key can decrypt it. Asymmetric encryption is generally slower than symmetric encryption but more secure.

What is data tokenization, and how does it work?

Data tokenization is the process of replacing sensitive data with a token. The token is created using an algorithm that generates a unique string of characters. The sensitive data is then stored in a secure location, and the token is used in its place. When the data needs to be accessed, the token is used to retrieve the original data.

To better understand tokenization, think of subway tokens or casino chips. They replace physical currency and reduce cash handling risks such as theft. Unlike encryption, tokenization is a method that replaces sensitive data with non-sensitive substitutes without changing the type or length of the data. Tokenization is actually a broader concept. It is increasingly used in the crypto world, where tokens linked to underlying assets represent various digital assets on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchains.

There are different types of tokenization methods. Format-preserving tokenization (FPT) replaces sensitive data with a token that has the same format as the original data. Secure hashing algorithm (SHA) tokenization hashes the data and uses the hash value as a token, making it irreversible. Randomized tokenization generates a unique token for each data element, which is not related to the original data. Strong one-way hash tokenization uses a strong hash function to generate a token, making it more secure and resistant to attacks.

There is no universal classification for tokens, but they can be categorized in various ways. Tokens can be single or multi-use, authenticable or non-authenticable, cryptographic or non-cryptographic, and combinations of these.

Which is more secure: data encryption or data tokenization?

Both data encryption and data tokenization are methods used to secure sensitive data, but they differ in how they protect the data. Encryption is generally considered more secure than tokenization because it involves complex mathematical algorithms and secret keys that make it difficult for unauthorized parties to decrypt the ciphertext.

Tokenization has some advantages over encryption. For example, if an attacker gains access to the tokenized data, they will only see meaningless tokens that cannot be used for malicious purposes. In contrast, if an attacker gains access to encrypted data and is able to decrypt it, they will have access to the original sensitive data.

Using data tokenization securely

The tokenization system stores a database of tokens that are mappedlinked to the corresponding sensitive data. To protect this database, it is necessary to use industry best practices such as secure storage, audit trails, and secure authentication authorization protocols. To fully benefit from data tokenization's security and risk reduction features, the tokenization system should be logically isolated from the systems and applications that store or process sensitive data.

Furthermore, the method used for generating tokens should be proven to make it impossible to reverse them back to the original data through cryptanalysis, brute-force attacks, side-channel analysis, and token mapping table exposure.

Using encryption securely

When using data encryption, it is important to choose a robust encryption algorithm that is widely accepted in the industry, like the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Avoid using outdated encryption algorithms or creating your own encryption methods.

To ensure secure key management, you can implement practices like key rotation and destruction. It is good to store keys in a secure location, such as a hardware security module (HSM).

Additionally, it is recommended to implement access controls that limit access to keys and encrypted data. This can include using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to ensure that only the right people can access the data.

Which to choose?

The choice between data encryption and data tokenization depends on your organization's specific needs. Please remember that data encryption and data tokenization can be used together. Here are some factors to consider when deciding which method is best for your data security needs:

Compliance

Some standards mandate using encryption; however, some specific regulations will allow tokenization. Data tokenization can be more effective for reducing compliance scope by reducing the amount of sensitive data that needs to be protected.

Compatibility

When considering encryption or tokenization, it is important to assess the compatibility of your existing software and processes and determine which method would be easier to implement based on your current digital infrastructure.

Resources used

Encrypting data is a resource-intensive process, requiring specialized hardware and software to be implemented, which can be costly. On the other hand, tokenization is a less resource-intensive process, making it less expensive to implement. Tokenization is a process that enables specific data to be visible for processing and analytics while keeping sensitive information concealed.

Data sharing

If you need to share sensitive data in its original value and format with a third party, encryption may be the best solution. This will minimize external access to your token vaultdatabase for de-tokenization processes.

Data format

Encryption can be used for both structured and unstructured data, including entire files. However, tokenization is more suitable for structured data fields only. It focuses on the future and involves tokenizing structured data fields like social security or payment card numbers.

Final thoughts

When deciding between tokenization or encryption, consider your data security needs. Tokenization is suitable for specific numbers like credit card or account numbers, while encryption can protect entire databases. Consider which option is easier to comply with your company's data security policy. Also, take into account your budget when choosing between these two options. Finally, think about the potential benefits that tokenization or encryption could offer your company based on its size and customer base.

While the points mentioned above can guide you in choosing between tokenization and encryption, I recommend using both techniques together whenever possible. Tokenization and encryption are not mutually exclusive, and combining these methods can help overcome their respective limitations and improve your company's overall data security posture.

The post Encryption vs. Data Tokenization: Which is Better for Securing Your Data? appeared first on Datafloq.