Over the past few years, the world has witnessed the IT systems of major retailers and organizations fall prey to hackers who are out to steal sensitive business data.

Some breaches targeted the personal information of consumers to commit identity theft, others targeted proprietary company data in what appeared to be revenge for how the company operated, and others aimed to steal intelligence data to throw back the curtain on government operations that are necessarily covert.

Guarding Data From Within

The goal of hackers was different in each case, but the incidents had something in common: They were perpetrated by strangers who attacked an IT system from the outside, not people who had in-house access to and IT system and tried to steal data from the inside.

However, as statistics bear out, companies and organizations must protect data from the inside as vigilantly as they guard it from outside threats. There are three ways, among others, that third party cybersecurity providers in Chicago can help.

1. Tokenization

Tokenization uses symbolic characters to represent data. For example, if your bank statement shows the last four digits of your account numbers, with symbols representing the preceding digits, that's tokenization.

Tokenization is primarily used to prevent data breaches coming from outside the IT system. However, when tokenization is performed by third party cybersecurity providers in Chicago, it becomes easier to limit knowledge of the tokenization process to a select few.

2. Dual Firewall

We usually think of firewalls as guarding against data breaches coming from outside the IT system - and most firewalls do a good job of this. But dual firewalls offer something more: protection against attempted breaches coming from inside the system, too.

This type of firewall kicks off an alarm when someone attempts prohibited actions from within the IT system the same as it does when they attempt such actions from outside. For the best protection, activity that impacts the firewall must be monitored 24/7. Cybersecurity providers in Chicago can implement remote diagnostic software that simplifies around the clock monitoring.

3. Login Credentials

At most companies and organizations, only a few people need full access to sensitive business data. Even most in-house IT professionals don't need comprehensive access to all data. This fact presents the opportunity to limit data access to a select few whose login credentials provide full access to all databases. Using login credentials in this way increases accountability and thus helps deter data theft.



Conclusion

According to a recent online report from Infosecurity Magazine, "Among companies experiencing data breaches (and that is to say, a majority), internal actors were responsible for 43% of data loss, half of which was intentional."

Cybersecurity providers in Chicago can help you avoid becoming a part of the statistic by assisting with the implementation and management of the security solutions above, among several others. For more information about internal data security and what you can do to enhance it, contact an experienced provider of cybersecurity solutions in the Windy City today.








Implementing and enhancing cybersecurity solutions are necessary measures in protecting and securing your company data. For more information, call Stratosphere Networks in Chicago or visit their website.