5 Major Encryption Mistakes That Lead To Data Breaches

We are in the year 2021, where every business and individual is trying their best to remain as anonymous as possible on the internet and secure their online data. This is why the market is flowing with data security, data backups, and data recovery buzzwords.

When it comes down to data security, only a few people are aware of its best practices. While rest just follow whatever they feel is the right procedure. This is where they make mistakes. You don’t do things that, according to you, are right; you do things that are right for your data.

One of the best ways to ensure all your data is safe and secure from any online thereat is to follow asymmetric encryption. However, some people are not aware of the best data security practices and make simple mistakes that cost them heavily.

Encryption Mistakes You Need To Avoid

Lack of data management training results in data breaches. Fortunately, there are tools to ensure data security. However, there are several mistakes individuals make while taking preventive measures.

Here, we will highlight the mistakes people make and that results in data breaches.

1. Lack Of Encryption

While this post is all about the mistakes people make while encrypting their data; some companies do not encrypt their data at all. This is the single most mistake that comes with data encryption.

Some organizations take their sweet little time to take immediate action to encrypt their data even after going through data breaches. Failure to encrypt your data can affect you in the following ways:

2. Relying On Outdated Encryption

Encryption is meant to be bypassed. This is the reason why you get software updates and other technology updates. You must remain on top of the latest encryption algorithm.

Keeping your algorithm updates will ensure that you have p[rotection from all the latest viruses and bugs. While you are using the encryption method, see to it which version you are using. If the version is old, update it to the newer version.

3. Leaving Encryption In The Open

The concept of the encryption key is to keep it safe and secure from outside reach. The whole purpose of encrypted data comes to an end when you share the encryption with an unauthorized user.

Encrypting the data is not a big deal; keeping the encryption safe is. You need to find ways to keep your encryption keys under several layers of protection. Consider encrypting your keys to the “key-encryption” key. This way, even if the server is compromised, your encryption will be safe.

4. Misdelivery

It is a common scenario where while data transit, the data is shared with an irrelevant person. It is one of the human errors that are hard to avoid. Hence, you must double sure the recipient of the shared data before sending it to anyone. This reduces the risk of misdelivery.

5. Lack Of Data Recovery Plans

Most people think that their job is finished after securing their network and data. Well, the sad truth is that no data is safe in the digital world. You need to keep yourself updated with the modern encryption techniques and recovery strategies if the worst thing happens.

There are times when your data is lost, even after the high security. Nothing can be done once the data is lost. The only way you can recover your data is by data recovery methods.

What To Do If The Error Happens Anyway

The reality is that, even if the organization has the best data security in place, mistakes do happen. You might fall victim to a sophisticated attack that you were never prepared for, or the admin might grant permission to someone that was never meant to be.

The sad truth is that most of the data loss events occur due to human errors and poor data management. Therefore, organizations and an individual should practice improving their mistake detection capabilities.