Just like in the real world, the phrase ‘Prevention is better than cure’ is applicable in the field of cybersecurity too. Today’s data breaches and cyber-attacks are powerful and hard to contain if they are executed to perfection. According to this IBM study, data breaches in 2020 resulted in massive losses for organisations worldwide: up to US$ 3.86 million. More importantly, another study found that the average time to detect a data breach can be up to 206 days, while the time taken to contain it is approximately 73 days. So, reacting to a cyber-attack is a much, much more expensive affair for organisations than preventing the attack from impacting their data networks in the first place. The switch from reactive data security tools and services (manual website blockers, basic threat responses) to proactive measures and solutions (intelligent firewalls, behavioural data security) is a trend that is being seen on a global scale in organisations. Here is why your organisation must also switch to proactive cyber defence measures:

To comply with global data protection standards

Different countries may have different sets of data protection regulations in place to safeguard the confidential information of their people. Regulations under renowned data protection laws such as DPA and GDPR update regularly to continuously increase the privacy safety levels for their netizens. To keep up with these updates, the data security architecture of your organisation will also need to evolve with time. Proactive security systems generally contain several layers of cyber defence screening technologies in place. These layers ensure that important user information (such as credit card numbers, phone numbers, and social security details) are kept far beyond the reach of external entities looking to access them. The sheer number of security layers allow organisations to comply with the data protection laws of any region.

To protect the financial assets of your organisation

Organisations can safeguard their bottom lines by using proactive data security tools and measures for advanced threat monitoring and prevention. Usually, cybercriminals intend to hack their way into the financial records of organisations in an attempt to steal monetary amounts from them. In the US, it is estimated that data breaches and other cyber-attacks cost businesses nearly US$ 15 million every year on average. Globally, that figure is estimated to be US$ 8 million. While the biggest organisations may be able to take a financial hit once in every 10 years or so without being majorly affected by them in the long run, others may face extinction if they do not take precautions and implement proactive data security measures to reduce the expenses caused by the inevitable cyber-attacks.

Apart from the primary losses, organisations may have to pay legal fees and client compensations if they take their cyber protection requirements lightly. Most importantly, organisations that are always breached by cybercriminals will eventually lose the goodwill of investors and other stakeholders. To prevent such catastrophes, organisations are advised to go overboard with their proactive data security efforts. At the risk of repeating the same point again and again, the expenses incurred by organisations to install proactive data security systems are FAR LESSER than the amounts they’d end up spending if they continue to use a reactive approach to cybersecurity.

To detect and prevent insider threats

It is a well-known fact that a large number of data breaches and cyber-attacks are initiated by the internal stakeholders within an organisation. The insiders may knowingly or unknowingly partake in such attacks, but the end results are usually the same: massive monetary and data losses for the organisation. Generally, organisations find insider attacks to be the most challenging types of data security threats to detect and prevent. Naturally, reactive cyber protection protocols risk being completely overwhelmed by insider attacks. This is where a proactive data security system shows its true worth.

Proactive data security uses a truly modern cyber protection concept: context-aware data security. These systems focus on basing identity and access management (IAM) decisions on the when, what, why, who, and where behind user requests for system or network access. As a result, security systems that 'think' contextually will provide access to users only when the organisation wants them to receive it. As a result of this, privileged users and other internal stakeholders will not be able to access their employer's data networks at any time of the day to initiate a sneaky insider attack.

Additionally, security devices such as intelligent firewalls closely monitor every employee's behavioural patterns to determine whether they are using the organisation's databases for strictly work-related purposes or not. If the proactive data security system finds any behavioural anomaly, the network administrators are notified about it. After that, insider attacks can be easily dealt with as their surprise element is taken out of the equation. Intelligent firewalls are deployed by mega-corporations to verify whether employees are performing tasks specific to their respective designations or not.

Apart from these points, there are several reasons why your organisation must switch permanently to proactive data security tools and services for its cyber defence requirements.

Proactive security systems share several characteristics with their traditional counterparts as the design and conception platforms are usually the same. Proactive security systems simply build on the basic architecture of age-old data security systems. However, the similarities end there as the proactive systems deploy AI and other technologies to attain a deeper understanding of an organisation's data security infrastructure. This understanding helps such systems to detect, identify, assess, and eliminate threats at an early stage.

Obviously, switching to proactive tools and services to protect your data networks will be an expensive affair. However, in the long run, the investments made to strengthen the cybersecurity infrastructure of your organisation will be totally worth it. We at Gajshield provide the latest data security solutions for all your network protection requirements. You can contact us to discover the complete range of data security products and services that we can offer.