With the world becoming a more decentralized place, data breaches and hacking-related crimes have become more rampant. Today, it is more important than ever for organizations to pay close attention to data security so as to protect their data from unauthorized third parties. Even in Dr. Thapaliya’s home country of Nepal, the problem of hacking and data breaches is on the rise. In response, Dr. Thapaliya has provided some special tips to help prevent these issues here.
Dr. Rajan Thapaliya is an experienced professor who teaches various courses related to AI, advanced data science, and software engineering courses to Ph.D.-level students at National University. He obtained his MS/Ph.D. in data science from National University. Recently, he published a blockchain-based journal. Dr. Rajan Thapaliya, a professor at the National University, University of Arizona, and Trine University, shares some tips on protecting your organization’s private data from unauthorized access.
- What are some of the latest trends and techniques hackers use to breach data security, and what measures can organizations take to counter them?
Today, hackers use various techniques and technologies to steal access and corporate data. One of the latest trends hackers employ today is sophisticated social engineering techniques like phishing emails and pretexting, all of which are designed to trick employees into divulging sensitive company information or granting unauthorized access. Hackers have also been known to employ the age-old technique of physically infiltrating company premises by posing as a trusted third party. The use of ransomware attacks to encrypt and extort data from organizations is a growing trend used by hackers today, which leverages advanced persistent threats (APTs) to gain long-term access to company systems and networks from where data can be easily siphoned off undetected.
Adopting a multi-layered approach to data security is a tested and trusted way to counter these threats. A typical multi-layered approach should include employee training and awareness programs to educate staff, the implementation of robust access control systems and monitoring mechanisms to detect and respond to unauthorized access attempts, regular security audits and penetration testing to help identify vulnerabilities in security systems, and regular updates to security protocols to ensure that the organization’s security system is up-to-date and effective in mitigating recent and emerging threats. Organizations should also take advantage of state-of-the-art technologies like AI-based anomaly detection systems and machine learning to help detect and prevent security breaches in real time.
- How can organizations ensure the security of their data when it is stored on the cloud or accessed remotely by employees working from home?
If your organization stores data in the cloud, it is important to take extra steps to protect said data, not just from third parties accessing the data remotely but from any data breach that could occur as authorized personnel accessing the data remotely. To guard against such security threats, proactive steps should be taken to protect sensitive information and systems from such attacks.
One way to achieve this is by employing a comprehensive security framework which should include physical security measures that prevent unauthorized individuals from physically accessing company data saved on the cloud, network security to help prevent unauthorized third parties from data being shared between authorized parties, and other such data security protocols. Multi-factor authentication and encryption should also be employed to enhance data security when employees access company data remotely. Employees should also be trained on security best practices when remotely accessing company data as well as educated on threat intelligence so as to be able to identify and respond to potential threats whenever they arise.
- What are some of the key challenges faced by organizations in implementing effective data security measures, and how can these be overcome?
Organizations face several key challenges when trying to implement effective security measures to help keep their private data safe. Lack of awareness among employees regarding the importance of data security and the risks presented by certain behaviors is one of the most common of these challenges. Without a proper understanding of the value of company data and how much damage can be caused by a security breach, employees are bound to be lax when it comes to keeping company data secure. There are also issues with a lack of enough resources to invest in the latest security technologies or to hire experienced security personnel, issues with difficulty in implementing effective security measures across large organizations and integrating the multiple systems and applications that already exist efficiently, and the resistance to change from some employees or departments.
To overcome these challenges, an organization should provide regular training to employees on the importance of data security and best practices to employ to keep company data safe, allocate sufficient resources to data security and security personnel, streamline access controls, and simplify security protocols so there are no loopholes for hackers to employ, and implement effective change management processes to reduce the resistance of employees to new security mea
- How can machine learning and other data science techniques be used to identify and prevent security breaches, and what are the limitations of these approaches?
Modern data science techniques like machine learning can be employed to identify and prevent security breaches in a variety of ways. These modern data science techniques can be employed for data security purposes to better monitor and analyze data, detect anomalies and malicious activities, predict future threats, and carry out real-time threat mapping.
Using these techniques has its limitations, however. For one, machine learning algorithms require a lot of high-quality training data, and this can be very hard to obtain for certain types of security threats. There is also the possibility of these techniques generating false positives, which can lead to time, effort, and resources being wasted in an attempt to investigate threats or counterattacks that don’t exist. Another issue to take into account is the tendency of hackers to manipulate or evade machine learning algorithms and other such systems by feeding them malicious data, leading to the algorithms providing incorrect predictions which are of no use to a company’s data security efforts. Finally, there is also the fact that implementing these techniques requires specialized expertise and can be rather expensive.
Organizations looking to employ these techniques need to consider these limitations before employing these techniques if they are to be an efficient tool for data security.
- In light of recent high-profile data breaches and cyber-attacks, how do you see the future of data security evolving, and what steps can organizations take to stay ahead of the curve?
Due to the increasing sophistication of cyber threats and reliance on digital technologies, there is no doubt that data security and related technologies will only improve as time progresses. It is important for organizations to stay up-to-date on the coming advancements in the field to enjoy the best of data security. To stay ahead of the curve, organizations need to regularly review and update security policies to remain up-to-date on the latest security threats and best practices to employ. Organizations must also employ the most up-to-date data security technologies as well as employ teams of security experts who are proficient in using such technologies. Finally, employees must be briefed regularly on any new hacking trends or potential vulnerabilities that might be of concern to the organization as well as best security practices to help prevent security breaches so as to not fall prey to any new technologies or methods employed by hackers.
