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Writer's pictureAline Silva | PhishX

What is a security breach and how to prevent it?

Security breaches are a problem worldwide and are becoming increasingly common among organizations. These threats jeopardize companies' activities, generate dissatisfaction among customers, and promote data loss.

 

Therefore, it is essential that institutions know how to recognize these failures so that they can prevent problems and adopt strategies that help mitigate risks.

 

After all, cybercriminals are constantly evolving. In this way, it is up to companies to invest in improvements and counterattack these scams. Know that only with specific actions is it possible to reduce these actions.

 

Do you want to know how to recognize these failures and, above all, how you can avoid them? Keep reading this text and learn how to protect your company, employees, and reputation in the market.


Why is it important to understand security flaws?

 

We define a security breach or breach as any incident that results in unauthorized access to data, networks, devices, and applications.

 

That is, when there is an intrusion into the system and a malicious person has access to confidential information through a breach in the security mechanisms.

 

Be aware that there are some differences between a security breach and a data breach. A security breach happens when a system is hacked, even though the criminal is unable to steal any information.

 

A data breach, on the other hand, is when the cybercriminal manages to break into and steal important data and information about the institution, its customers, and employees.

 

It is necessary to understand that just as data is important for institutions, it is extremely valuable for criminals.

 

After all, with the information in hand, cybercriminals can use this data to scam, harm people, or even use the company's name to commit crimes.

 

Therefore, when a data leak happens in an institution, its reputation is shaken, as customers lose trust and are afraid that their data will be misused.

 

There are numerous security flaws, they are:


  • Malware infection;

  • Phishing attack;

  • Weak passwords;

  • DDOS attack.

 

Most of these breaches are generated by human errors, employees who do not know the risks of an attack and who end up opening breaches in the systems.

 

Therefore, when we talk about security breaches, it is necessary to understand that actions aimed at cybersecurity are responsible for reducing these risks.


How does a vulnerability arise?


Now that you have a better understanding of what a security breach is, let's explain how they arise.

 

We can say that vulnerabilities arise from a few factors, the main one being the lack of training among the people who work in the organization or the use of solutions inappropriately.

 

That is, when people leave data or files exposed, when they use weak passwords, do not update systems, or access sensitive information through unknown networks.


Types of security breaches


As we mentioned, there are some types of security breaches, all of them put organizations and people at risk, see below what they are.

 

Exploit


This type of attack happens on outdated systems. In this way, it attacks the vulnerability of the system. That's why it's so important to keep systems up to date to prevent actions like these from happening.

 

Weak passwords


Using weak or insecure passwords, such as people's names, birthdays, or obvious words, puts the security of systems at risk. That's because these passwords can be discovered and accessed by hackers.

 

Malicious file downloads


These downloads occur without you even noticing, because when you click on a fake website, you can download a virus, malware, or spyware.

 

Phishing attack


These attacks often come via emails and are used as a gateway for cybercriminals. In this way, all it takes is for a person to click on one of these messages for malicious software to spread throughout the network.

 

Social engineering


This scam happens when a criminal contacts an employee and impersonates a representative, and with that, requests confidential information such as passwords and access.


How to protect yourself?


As we have seen, security flaws are present everywhere and people are prone to falling for these scams, so it is important that organizations know how to protect themselves from these flaws.

 

First of all, it is necessary to understand that vulnerabilities are created by ill-informed people, that is, an employee who does not know about cybersecurity can click on a malicious link or even pass on confidential information over the phone.

 

Therefore, good risk management involves awareness and education in information security; thus, it is necessary to integrate training actions with technology.

 

As a result, IT teams are not able to monitor team maturity, create reports, and take actions to help mitigate risks.

 

It's important for organizations to bring people closer to cybersecurity; They need to understand the problem so they know how to deal with it if something happens.

 

For this to occur, both the organization and Information Technology professionals need to see people as a line of defense against these attacks.

 

Understand, vulnerabilities are directed at them, so they are the ones who need to know how to protect the company. This shift in thinking helps mitigate risk and makes everyone work together and know what their role is when it comes to cybersecurity.

 

How can PhishX help prevent failures?


Security flaws are present in the day-to-day life of all organizations, as we have seen, only awareness combined with technologies is able to reduce these risks.

 

PhishX is a security, privacy, governance, communication, and compliance ecosystem for people that simplifies human-related risk mitigation.

 

Through our system, organizations are able to create an effective safety culture.

 

That's because we rely on the creation and execution of phishing campaigns. This way, you can prepare your employees so that they know how to recognize suspicious emails and messages.

 

We also send out press releases, which makes communication about cybersecurity more effective. With this, you can engage all people and make them have contact with information security issues.

 

In addition, we perform attack simulation tests. These actions help the Information Technology team to measure the maturity level of each team and know what processes should be created to mitigate risks.

 

We have a platform full of content such as booklets, videos and some Artificial Intelligence resources aimed at cybersecurity training.

 

Our materials are up-to-date and deal with threats in a light and practical way, making the entire learning process effective. This makes people understand the content and not become something boring, which often causes disinterest.

 

Know that our platform also allows you to measure information. Thus, it is possible to know how many people fell in the attack drills and how many of them finished the training.

 

This picture allows teams to know exactly what the risks are and how they can protect against them.

 

It is necessary to understand that the feeling of security in the corporate environment is very difficult to achieve, but with some security actions it is possible to protect your assets and the company's reputation.

 



 Asian software programmer with system hacking problem with security breach.
Security breaches can put your company at risk.

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