7 sources of data loss you may not have considered

Data is the backbone of many modern businesses, and as such Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is a key part of any cyber security strategy. In order to prevent such losses, it’s important to understand the potential sources of a data loss. Although some are obvious, like a virus or a natural disaster, there are others you may not yet have considered.

Here is a breakdown of 7 common sources of data loss that you should address in your DLP strategy;

1. Accidental damage – it’s easily done, a knocked over cup of coffee or a dropped laptop and any unsaved or synced data could be gone forever
2. Human error – nobody’s perfect, data could quickly be lost by an accidental press of the delete button, or by overwriting a file in error
3. Malicious insiders – it’s hard to keep everyone happy, a disgruntled employee, or ex-employee could very easily dispose of important or sensitive data
4. Malicious outsiders – the rise of cyber warfare is a real threat to all businesses, whether it’s a virus, Ransomware or a hacker
5. Software and hardware malfunction – the dreaded system crash, malfunctioning or crashing software or hardware commonly leads to a loss of data and information
6. Natural disaster – hard to predict, but anything from a power cut or power surge, to a fire or flood could be a threat to your data
7. Physical theft – a stolen computer, laptop, phone or tablet is a very real threat to data loss

These 7 potential sources of data loss should all be considered and accounted for in a DLP strategy. Luckily, many cyber security providers include comprehensive Data Loss Prevention services as part of their offering, however that can never fully protect a business when people are involved. As such, a layered defence strategy is recommended. Internal training, processes and consistency are just as important to a DLP strategy as robust cyber security.

As Acronis Cyber Protect partners we often recommend DeviceLock to our customers. Acronis DeviceLock DLP provides a comprehensive endpoint DLP – discovering and protecting sensitive data while monitoring the operations involving that information.

Get in touch with our experts to find out more.