For most organizations, customer data provides insights about their consumers and the market they serve. It includes the personal, behavioral, and demographic information of the clients. These are all vital in understanding their audiences and ensuring that their products, services, and campaigns resonate with their audiences.  

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Threats To Cybersecurity

Many cyber threats make customer data vulnerable to loss, theft, and identity fraud. Hazards include the following:  

• Phishing: It's a scam in which an email is sent from an individual posing as a legitimate organization. They do this to collect sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.  
• Malware: It's software that infiltrates computer systems without authorization and compromises their security. It involves viruses, worms, and Trojan horses that capture screen images once they access the device.  
• Ransomware: It's a threat that denies users access to their files until a ransom is paid.  

These threats all cause reputation damage to companies, causing consumers to lose trust in them. Thus, protecting customer data is imperative. It is why legal authorities and government bodies provide different data privacy standards that all entrepreneurs must follow. It involves the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and the Data Privacy Law.  Failure to fulfill requirements for CCPA compliance, leads to criminal sanctions with fines that could go up to USD$15,000 per violation.

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Customer Data Protection Guide

Most organizations fight against threats by establishing preventive measures in place. They do this with the help of managed information technology (IT) services to identify vulnerabilities and implement security measures. So, contact Powersolution or something similar for expert guidance. Now, here's an in-depth guide to cybersecurity practices for protecting customer data:  

1. Assess Data Vulnerabilities  

Before you start implementing cybersecurity strategies, discovering vulnerabilities is a must. It can be an unpatched software or an insecure bring your own device (BYOD) policy. It may also include employees clicking on phishing scams because they’re unaware of this cyber threat.  

A vulnerability assessment includes these steps:  

• Plan the scope of testing by developing a methodology. It includes identifying where you store customer data and other hidden data sources.   
• Run a vulnerability scan and compile a list of security threats. It involves doing an automated and manual penetration scan to ensure the findings are all accurate. This guide to network penetration testing will bring you up to speed on the ins and outs of each process, so it’s useful whether or not you choose to outsource this aspect.
• Use a scanning tool with a standard vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) to assign a numerical score. This analysis indicates which vulnerabilities require immediate attention.  
• Fix the vulnerabilities through remediation to refrain from any data exploitation. If there’s no proper patch for the vulnerability, consider using mitigation. It minimizes attacks by buying additional time until remediation is available.  

The vulnerability assessment process is effective if you seek IT consulting in New York or near you. It ensures that your in-house IT team can avoid leaving your network unsecured.  

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2. Strengthen Your BYOD Program 

If you’re implementing a BYOD program within your organization, reviewing its security is imperative. If you’re not careful, BYOD leaves your operations prone to be a target of any data breach, leading to downtime due to data loss.   

For instance: Sales representatives can access all customer information and company account on their laptop. Bringing a laptop to a busy café to meet a prospective client and connecting to the public Wi-Fi to view the file that contains all client data can be a gateway for cybercriminals to penetrate the laptop and steal information.   

To further secure these activities, organizations can implement secure, high-performance devices like the Meraki MX250. This cloud-managed security appliance offers comprehensive network protection, including features like VPN support and intrusion detection, enhancing BYOD security and mitigating common cyber threats.

The hacker can never access customer data if the sales rep’s web account has multi-factor authentication (MFA). It requires more than a password to verify the user’s identity. They’ll have to gain access to the rep’s phone to view the one-time code through an SMS message or email. Even if the cybercriminal tricks the team member into giving them the username and password, they still can’t access sensitive data. Speaking of advanced cybersecurity strategies, it may seem daunted, but adopting zero trust is not as complex as it seems. In fact, it could seamlessly fit in with your existing systems to strengthen your security even more, making your BYOD program invulnerable to common pitfalls and cyber threats.

That’s why strengthening your BYOD policy is a must. Aside from enabling MFA on all their accounts, the following are steps in having a firm BYOD policy:  

• Provide a list of all permitted devices.  
• Specify which apps are allowed and banned.  
• Implement strict password standards.  
• Enable Virtual Private Network (VPN).  
• Establish a team member exit strategy.  
• Refrain employees from connecting to public Wi-Fi.  
• Ensure all permitted devices are updated software.  
• Create a Mobile Device Management (MDM) program.  

A BYOD policy is beneficial as it reduces the costs of purchasing devices for each team member. However, there are risks associated with this program, including the loss and unauthorized access to confidential data. Thus, ensure all employees know these threats and take their responsibilities seriously.  

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3. Create A Privacy Notice For Your Consumers 

Before consumers purchase products or services, they want to know if a brand is trustworthy. It's why privacy notices are so crucial for businesses. A privacy notice explains how a company will use customer data solutions, including any third parties with access to it. It can include personal information like email addresses, phone numbers, and home addresses. It also has more general information, such as names and IP addresses.  

To ensure that your data privacy notice is adequate, it must show what your clients will gain from it. It must highlight the personal information you collect, how you use it, and how to protect it. You can notify your customers about the privacy policies by placing them through browse-wrap or click wrap. If you made policy changes, consider sending emails to your consumers. It's essential to show that you care about their privacy and update them on new developments. It translates to more clients for your business.  

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4. Encrypt All Customer Data 

Encryption is essential in the protection of customer data. Using an industry-approved encryption method is vital to encrypting consumer data. Consider using Advanced Encryption Standard or AES-bit encryption on all your sensitive files. It makes it impossible for hackers to access or steal any information stored in your database or file systems. For instance, a hacker steals your AES 256-bit encrypted file and tries to open it without the proper decryption key. If so, they’ll only see gibberish characters instead of valuable customer information.  

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5. Always Secure Backups Of Important Files 

Backups are essential because they ensure you have a copy of the file if something happens to the original. It may also help you recover from a virus or attack if you can download a copy before the problem occurs.  

You can back up customer data in removable CDs, DVDs, universal serial bus (USB) or hard drives. Then, secure files through cloud storage, an online backup service, or a network-attached storage (NAS) device. But ensure the security of these duplicates, by utilizing reliable services like the NAKIVO NAS backup solution, providing enhanced protection for critical data.

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Summing It Up 

Customer data protection is critical in safeguarding brand integrity. Customers, employees, and investors will likely trust you when they know you prioritize privacy. It is especially true in cases where your business operates online and processes sensitive information like credit card numbers.   

So, implementing cybersecurity practices is essential. It involves implementing encryption, securing data backups, and improving the BYOD policy. It ensures your organization can protect customer information from cyberattacks and accidental file deletion.

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