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Namrata Sengupta, SVP BitRaser, Stellar Data Recovery
September 19, 2024
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DATA DISPOSAL AND CYBER HYGIENE: BUILDING A CULTURE OF SECURITY WITHIN YOUR
ORGANIZATION



Data breach episodes have been constantly rising with the number of data breach
victims crossing 1 billion in the first half of 2024. A recent Data Breach
Report 2023 by Verizon confirms that 74% of data breaches are due to human
errors. Although cybersecurity awareness is at an all-time high in organizations
still human error, malicious intent & privilege misuse seem to be a cause of
most data breach incidents.



To build a defense against data breaches, organizations must go beyond the
traditional methods of cyber hygiene and expand their domain to include policies
governing data protection from creation to disposal of IT assets, safeguarding
sensitive, confidential data at all stages. International Data Corporation (IDC)
has predicted that in 2026, investments on cybersecurity tools, and services
will reach approximately $300 billion. This indicates that cybersecurity is
indeed considered a priority in organizations globally. So, why still the gap
exists, and data breaches happen?


WHY CYBER HYGIENE MATTERS?

Cyber hygiene is significant because it contributes to maintaining a strong
organizational cybersecurity posture. Consistent adherence to these practices,
protect data, networks, and systems from getting compromised due to malicious
cyberattacks. Lack of proper cyber hygiene leads to data breach incidents,
ransomware attacks, and compliance issues, causing loss of business, and
reputational loss.

In fact, for organizations, compromise of business-critical information has even
a greater risk because it means loss of revenue & goodwill. Client information
and company data are some of the most important assets to the company that
criminals can target. One point of vulnerability can risk a business’s
partnerships and leave companies open to legal repercussions, so any
cybersecurity strategy must include a strong focus on cyber hygiene.


WHAT ARE THE BEST CYBER HYGIENE PRACTICES?

There are a few cyber hygiene practices that build the foundation of secure
cybersecurity in an organization, which are as follows:

 * Multi-factor authentication: Verifying the identity of a user with something
   like an OTP (one-time password) sent on email and a phone adds another layer
   of security so that only the rightful owners can gain access to the accounts.
   Similarly adding finger print verification on devices or face scans adds to
   protection.
 * Authorized access control: Providing privileged rights to the users who need
   access to certain data helps in maintaining the security of sensitive
   information.
 * Strong passwords: Keeping long, and uncommon passwords with a combination of
   numbers, letters, and special characters strengthens the security of
   profiles.
 * Software updates: Updating software at regular intervals ensures that the
   latest security patches and bug fixes secure the installed software in the
   system.
 * Secure data disposal: Implementation of guidelines for secure disposal of
   data entails rules on how data can be securely erased from devices,
   international standards that has to be followed (NIST 800-88) as well as
   providing training to employees on data erasure solutions. These protocols
   must be strictly followed by executives, managers, employees IT specialists,
   and any other person working for the company, and IT specialists should be
   the key persons informing other employees about these protocols.


HOW DOES DATA DISPOSAL BENEFIT CYBER HYGIENE?

The abovementioned cyber hygiene practices are a gist of the rules that lay the
foundation of a strong cybersecurity posture. However, the connection between
data disposal and cyber hygiene is often neglected. Secure data disposal is not
only linked to proper cyber hygiene but also beneficial in strengthening the
cybersecurity of an organization. Following are the benefits of disposing of
data in the context of cyber hygiene:

 * Secures business data: Consider a data leak situation in which the social
   security number of individuals got leaked in a cyberattack on an
   organization. Companies can face law suits, penalties for non-compliance to
   data protection laws & regulations like EU-GDPR, CCPA, GLBA, etc. Disposing
   data when it has served its purpose is important. Further inaccurate,
   inconsistent, incomplete, and irrelevant information is to be wiped for
   guaranteeing personally identifiable information (PII) of a user is not
   jeopardized even in the event of a data breach.
 * Prevents data hoarding: Organizations store data to retrieve value from it in
   the future. This accumulation of data over a long period of time results in
   data hoarding. Proper cyber hygiene requires an organization to prioritize
   data minimization. Disposal of this redundant, obsolete, and trivial (ROT)
   data enables permanent removal of data that can become an easy target of both
   insider threats, and external attacks.
 * Mitigating risks: Secure data erasure eliminates the risk of data recovery by
   unauthorized parties, or people with malicious intent. When retiring old IT
   assets, repurposing fully functional ones, or donating them, following secure
   media sanitization practices helps prevent leakage of sensitive information,
   and become compliant with state, federal, and global data protection laws and
   regulations. Organizations can timely dispose data with a secure, and
   certified data wiping tool like BitRaser Data Eraser that helps in meeting
   compliance requirements of data protection laws like EU-GDPR, CCPA, UK-DPA,
   HIPAA, etc.


HOW TO BUILD A CULTURE OF SECURITY IN YOUR ORGANIZATION?

The first step of any organization willing to make a security-first culture
would be to include simple, clear, and transparent cyber hygiene practices in
the company policies. The other steps could be as follows:

 * Leader’s participation: Making a long-term change, such as a shift in the
   culture, is the responsibility of the leaders. There is no better way to
   build a security-first culture in the organization than from top to bottom.
   Leaders can embrace the cyber hygiene practices themselves, and lead by
   example. Whether it is in a one-on-one in-person discussion with an employee
   or via a virtual meeting in a group setting, leaders can share the
   cybersecurity principles that they swear by.
 * Employee training: It is insufficient to upgrade system software regularly if
   the employees who will be the first ones to interact with these tools are not
   equipped enough to operate them. It is essential to train employees on the
   significance of embracing these security practices, and the correct way of
   abiding by them. Through interactive sessions that are free of technical
   jargon, the necessity of a strong cybersecurity posture can be communicated.
 * Regular audits: Apart from the inclusion of security policies, and imparting
   knowledge to the employees, assessing the efficiency of these policies, and
   practices can guide future security decisions. Regular audits can be one of
   the ways to figure out if the formed policies have been appropriately
   implemented on the ground, and if they have been helpful in bringing out the
   desired results.

According to Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2022, even the basic cyber hygiene
practices can help in preventing 98% of cyberattacks. However, most of the data
breaches happen because of the negligence of these fundamental security
practices. Embracing cybersecurity as a part of the culture can change the way
in which the organization views security by not only protecting data that is not
stored but also erasing data that fulfills no purpose.





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