When asked what their top concerns are, the vast majority of IT leaders will list a data breach quite high. That’s not new news, but what might be shocking is that these same leaders aren’t always setting a great example.

According to Egress, a data security solutions company, its global survey found that 78% of IT leaders believe that their employees have put data at risk within 12 months prior to the survey. The reason this is troublesome is because many data breaches are the result of employees who mean no malice, but simply make mistakes that open the door to cyber criminals.

To Err Is Human

No matter how much training a person has or how much experience they’ve got under them, they will make a mistake and it might lead to a data breach. Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to account for some of these errors. For example, there are numerous tools available to assist in preventing data breaches from occurring, and there are tools that assist in flagging a breach before it becomes a major issue.

According to Epicor’s survey, 26% of the IT leaders said they often took risks because they didn’t have access to the right security tools in the first place. This is sometimes a general lack of knowledge about available technology, or it can be due to a tight budget that makes adopting and integrating these tools not economically feasible.

One way to stay on top of quickly evolving technology and assist in reducing risk is to partner with a third party agent that makes this a full time job. They have the knowledge to pair you with technology that will integrate with your current infrastructure and can recommend cloud-based solutions that won’t break the bank, yet offer an added layer of cyber protection that will make a data breach less of a possibility.

Build Smarter Policies

Everyone with access to a company’s network needs to be educated about the most prevalent types of data breaches occurring today and how they can prevent that from happening to them, and be held accountable for their actions, including password hygiene.

Companies that establish policies aimed at protection and prevention are less likely to get hit with a damaging data breach. This policy should spell out how every employee is to handle data and what they need to do when they suspect data has been mishandled, either by themselves or someone else in the company. The policy should also cover how data is protected when an employee leaves the company because this is another common problem where mishandled data is concerned.Also, the policy should establish best practices for tools to monitor and protect data. At Access Tech, we assist our customers in protecting themselves from attacks, which occur every 39 seconds in the United States. Malware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks evolve at an astonishing rate, so work with us to get you the best tools on the market. Contact us today, and let’s discuss your options.