Data leakage occurs when sensitive, confidential information is publicly exposed due to employee negligence.
As more and more businesses harness the benefits of text messaging, they are putting themselves at greater risk of data leakage. To mitigate risks, your company should implement the right data protection practices, such as utilizing instant message capture and setting leakage prevention policies.
No matter what your data is – whether financial, personally identifiable information, medical information, trade secrets, intellectual property, or account credentials–they are all valuable assets you should rightfully protect.
How to Prevent SMS Message Data Leakage
Monitor Network Access
Often, companies neglect to supervise all access to their networks. Take note that cybercriminals look for ways to slip through defenses before commencing an attack, so make it a practice to keep an eye on what goes through your systems regularly.
The more network traffic you monitor, the easier it is to identify suspicious activity. You can also use data leakage prevention solutions to strengthen your security and quickly identify all network vulnerabilities.
Evaluate Third-Party Risk
Your network providers may not take cybersecurity as seriously as you do, making you prone to attacks despite your company’s efforts to prevent them. Inadequate IT practices by your partners may render your precautions futile, so assessing their compliance with security regulations is wise.
Educate your Employees
Many data leak cases can be attributed to employee negligence, with dozens of social engineering techniques capable of manipulating your staff into divulging critical information by accident. You can set up as many policies and safety nets as possible, but if your workers do not take them seriously, they could put the company in deep trouble.
You can conduct regular security awareness training to help your team stay updated on data leakage prevention and teach them what to do if such an event happens.
Enhance Security Systems
Your employees must understand the value of using difficult-to-guess passwords and changing codes to prevent malicious attacks. Moreover, your company can encourage using two-factor authentication and other security systems that most cybercriminals cannot easily break.
Message Archiving
Another efficient solution to prevent data leakage is to capture and store SMS messages using archiving software. Making it a habit to archive text messagesheightens security, gives you access to records and ensures your company stays compliant with regulatory organizations.
Data leakage is one of many reasons why regulatory bodies like the SEC and FINRA require businesses to value cybersecurity and archiving. To learn more about SEC’s communication compliance focus, take your time to read this helpful infographic by TeleMessage.