Alexey Viktorovich Kuzovkin - CEO of Infosoft, ex-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Armada Group of Companies. Alexey Kuzovkin has tremendous experience in managing innovative and IT projects.

For any company, data leakage can turn into a significant problem. There are 2 areas that will suffer primarily when information leaks:

1. Efficiency.

It is rather possible that due to a data leak, the company's servers will be hacked, and they will cease to function according to current business processes. As a result of hacking, the company will not be able to serve customers, solve their problems and make transfers. At worst, it may even lose money.

2. Reputation.

Companies are often subjected to cyber attacks, but information about the largest of them is always leaked to the media. When customers see that the company has poor cyber protection, they begin to doubt whether it is worth trusting it or it is better to find another one. Every customer wants to feel safe using a company's services.

How data leaks happen

Often, news about the leakage of personal data of customers from large companies appears on the Internet. But where do hackers get them from? There are two types of data leakage:

1. Internal data leak.

The internal leak is connected with the company's employees. As a rule, these are unscrupulous employees who merge data into other organizations themselves and receive money for it. In some cases, these may be through incorrectly configured servers where information is publicly available.

2. External data leak.

An external leak is a successful attempt by attackers to obtain personal data. This can be by breaking into accounts by selecting passwords or using deceptive sites or launching a spy virus into the system. It used to be popular to break into actual offices, but no one does it now because of security cameras.

How to minimize risks

To begin with, each organization is recommended to install antivirus software that can detect malicious files. Also, when employing employees, it is necessary to conduct an educational program on information security so that they do not accidentally transfer data into the hands of intruders.

All information in the company must be encrypted, but data encryption alone is not enough. If a company has several branches, then an Internet connection cannot be used to exchange information between them, since packets can be intercepted. VPN channels are used for data transmission, which are also protected by end-to-end encryption. For larger organizations that transmit confidential documents (the FSB, the prosecutor's office), a special connection is used that creates a channel between two branches and does not allow anyone to connect to it. Even the provider cannot access this data.

Of course, hacking methods are also improving, and, unfortunately, they usually develop faster than security methods. To find out how well your company is protected from cyber attacks, you can conduct cyber studies.

Some companies simulate hacking. They are specifically paid money to check the vulnerability of the system. Depending on the secrecy of the data and the requirements for their security, such companies select the necessary hacking methods and try to find vulnerabilities for a certain time. As the scammers progress, some companies conduct such checks 1-2 times a year.

Some companies conduct promotions for hacking and are ready for it daily. For example, if a vulnerability is found in Google, the company is ready to pay money to the hacker who identified it. Moreover, there are cases when such hackers were hired by the security department.