How Obtaining SOC Certification Can Minimize Risk of a Da
ta Breach
We are living in an era of information vulnerability. News of data breaches dominate headlines and consumer trust is as fragile as ever, which is why protecting your sensitive data is more important now than it has ever been. Not only are hackers becoming smarter, but investors are becoming increasingly more critical. Here’s what you need to know about secure data management, data breaches and the actions you can take to minimize conflicts and maximize trust.
Most Common Areas of Vulnerability
First, we want to identify the most common vulnerabilities we run into. Note: these are just information security vulnerabilities, not other controls issues or process shortcomings.
- Broken Authentication: When attackers dig their way in via poor session management and they act like approved users to obtain information.
- Security Misconfiguration: Outdated security software, using default service accounts, not changing factory settings, simple negligence.
- Blatant Data Exposure: Storing data on servers that can be accessed by outside sources due to a lack of proper encryption.
- Exposure to SQL Injections: Using too many third party softwares, installing faulty code and keeping space open for injection of code that would wipe out your control.
- Buffer Overflows: An attack that overwhelms the system by sending too much data/requests at one time. Recall the recent DdoS attack that occurred in Oct. 2016.
Instilling Trust in Shareholders During a Time of Great Doubt
2016 saw a rise in the importance of “showing your work” in the data management sector. Investors want to make sure you’ve covered all of your bases in the face of these alarming data breaches. Perhaps the most valuable proof of a company doing its due diligence is through the use of SOC Audit. Shareholders like transparency. They like secure investments. When you complete a service organization control audit, you essentially have a firm, like ours, come into your business and test it for vulnerabilities. This is a thorough technical investigation and, when all is said and done, you get a list of ways to improve both information security and efficiency and a certification that you can hand to potential investors to immediately instill trust.
As 2017 rolls around and SOC audits become increasingly more popular, the importance follows suit. Malicious hackers are intelligent and are only getting sharper in their reprobate craft. We project this certification to be the gold standard of client assurance in the not-so-distant future.
What You Can Do Today to Protect Yourself Tomorrow
- Use an up-to-date, IRS-approved virus scanning tools & technical safeguards on all computers connected in your network.
- Install a firewall to monitor all external connections and minimize malicious inbound threats.
- Avoid using email communication or internal chat sessions to share passwords, send confidential information or disseminate sensitive data. Adopt a phone-call or post-it note approach to credential sharing.
- Store sensitive information on a separate web server, one that is encrypted and lacks connection to the internet. Think of this database as a fireproof safe. Only you know the combination, whereabouts & contents. Only you can gain access.
These are just some tasks you can perform to protect your organization and its confidential data. To truly cover all bases, we highly suggest performing a comprehensive Service Organization Control audit. Contact us today for any questions you may have surrounding data breaches, secure information storage & the positive impacts of SOC audits on your organization.