Intellectual Property Theft: Ten Measures to Stop Intellectual Property Theft. If sensitive data is stolen, companies not only face fines and reputational damage, but in the case of intellectual property they can also lose their competitive advantage.
If attackers have successfully penetrated a company network, they can sell business-critical information to a competitor or nation state with competing global markets after successful theft. Here are ten measures that can be implemented immediately to ensure that companies of all sizes are better prepared to protect business-critical data.
1. Encrypt sensitive data
Encrypting sensitive data is critical to protecting intellectual property. This allows organizations to add another layer of protection that makes data difficult to access if it is stolen by an attacker. Encryption for endpoints should be based entirely on media and files and also enforce encryption for emails and devices.
2. Keep operating systems and software up to date
Operating system and software updates contain critical security updates that fix vulnerabilities. Automatic software updates should therefore be activated whenever possible in order to streamline the process and ensure that everything is always up to date.
3. Use of data security solutions
Antivirus software does not protect against all types of threats, it only offers basic protection against common, known malware. Attackers targeting sensitive intellectual property usually use sophisticated methods to break into systems. Antivirus software can be bypassed in these attacks. Organizations should therefore consider using data security software that resides at the kernel level of the endpoints and provides a complete overview of all the data that is being accessed and transmitted. The solution should be able to completely lock down both structured and unstructured sensitive data and use enforcement policies to prevent that data from leaving the company's IT environment.
4. Accounts with unique, complex passwords
Reusing the same or slightly changed passwords across different accounts is one of the greatest security risks in the event of a data breach. If employees use their passwords multiple times, compromising a non-sensitive account can give hackers access to the corporate network. From there, attackers can switch to privileged accounts and access sensitive data stored in databases, directories and other IT resources.
5. Archive data promptly and securely
Minimizing the amount of data businesses store on devices reduces the amount of information available to an attacker who has gained access to those devices. When data is no longer needed, it should be encrypted and moved to an offline storage device for long-term archiving.
6. Regular activity monitoring across user accounts
Tim Bandos, Chief Information Security Officer at Digital Guardian
Monitoring user behavior for abnormal or suspicious activity is one of the fastest ways to spot a security breach before it can cause harm. If suspicious activity is detected, all parties involved should be notified immediately. Even if other safeguards are in place, monitoring is often the fastest way to detect a security breach. Common warning signs include credentials that are used on multiple machines, employees accessing databases or directories they have never accessed, or logins outside of working hours.
7. Change of all passwords after possible data breach
After a security breach becomes known, the most important first step is to change all associated passwords. This ensures that the credentials are useless even if they have been stolen.
8. Data security settings for mobile applications and online accounts
It's also critical to keep up with data security settings for different accounts and applications, especially given the popularity of BYOD in the workplace. This ensures that unauthorized users do not have access to private, sensitive information or intellectual property belonging to the company.
9. Device controls for removable media
Although the majority of IT security focuses on protecting against external attackers, insider threats should not be ignored. Organizations should ensure that they have controls in place on removable media to prevent employees from accessing and smuggling sensitive intellectual property within the network. Device control security software that automates the process with policy-based usage controls for removable media, including warnings or blocks when risky behavior is detected, is very effective in warding off insider threats.
10. Employee training against phishing attacks
It is often more effective for attackers to use social engineering to induce a target person to take a desired action than to carry out complex, manual hacking attacks. Phishing attacks usually reveal telltale signs such as unknown senders, foreign domain names, fake websites, or emails with malicious links or attachments. Regular employee training and simulation training are therefore recommended in order to increase employee vigilance.
Intellectual property is one of the most valuable assets of a company. It is therefore important to implement a comprehensive data security strategy, including basic best practices such as password hygiene and solid patch management, in all internal departments and at third-party providers who work with intellectual property. This can significantly reduce the risk of intellectual property theft.
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Via Digital Guardian Digital Guardian offers uncompromising data security. The data protection platform provided from the cloud was specially developed to prevent data loss from insider threats and external attackers on the Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. The Digital Guardian Data Protection Platform can be used for the entire corporate network, traditional endpoints and cloud applications. For more than 15 years, Digital Guardian has made it possible for companies with high data volumes to protect their most valuable resources using SaaS or a fully managed service. With Digital Guardian's unique policy-less data transparency and flexible controls, organizations can protect their data without slowing down their business.