Forsyte IT Solutions
Forsyte IT Solutions

What to Do After a Data Breach

Forsyte I.T. Solutions explains the proper steps to take after a data breach occurs.

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Data breaches are becoming increasingly common—and the impact of one can devastate your organization’s reputation, finances, and customers.

Find out what to do after a breach to protect your people, data, and infrastructure.

Steps for Responding to a Data Breach

Let Your Employees and Clients Know

If your company’s data has been breached, be transparent with everyone who may be affected. Informing customers and employees about the details of the breach gives them the power to protect themselves from identity theft and other criminal activity. Customers can take action with credit bureaus, and employees can take steps to secure their own personal information. Keeping the data breach information a secret could lead to lawsuits for negligence and could cause customers and employees to lose trust in your company.

Find Out What Personal Data Was Stolen

Next, find out what personal information was stolen by checking for an email or account notification from the company. The most common data that hackers target includes email addresses, encrypted passwords, full names, phone numbers, home addresses, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers (SSNs). Your IT director should pinpoint every detail and not place ambiguous statements in calls or letters when identifying the type of personal data that was breached.

Secure Your Systems

By responding quickly and taking the right steps to secure your systems, you can minimize the damage of a data breach. To start, change your system’s access codes and passwords. It’s also a good idea to temporarily shut down all remote access to your system as an extra precaution. Creating a mobile breach team to respond to issues as soon as possible is also a good rule of thumb. Your breach team should include your onsite IT team, lawyers, human resources, and your communications department.

Update All Data Breach Protocols

Data breaches are becoming more common, so it’s essential to make sure your staff is well-educated on how to handle them in the event of a breach. Complacency can be a major problem, so regular training sessions should be held to make sure that everyone is up-to-date on the latest security protocols. One of the best ways to stay on top of data breaches is to use new security technologies and educate your staff on the importance of watching out for phishing emails and creating secure passwords. It’s also important to remain aware of the current trends in data breaches. The more knowledge you have, the better prepared you’ll be in the event of a breach.

After a data breach, we’ve got you covered. Forsyte offers data breach recovery services that give you the support you need for a full recovery—fast.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a way to protect your online business accounts with more than just a username and password. Typically, MFA requires users to provide two or more of the following identity verification factors:

  • A unique password, phrase, or PIN
  • A physical token or confirmation code
  • A fingerprint or facial recognition

Even if a bad actor manages to access your password, MFA helps prevent them from meeting the second authentication requirement. Check with your company’s vendors to see if they offer it for your various types of accounts, such as accounting and payroll.

File a Report With the Federal Trade Commission

Identity thieves can have a lasting impact on your credit and business reputation. To take action and clear your name, file a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). An official FTC report acts as proof of the crime and can be used when disputing fraudulent transactions or clearing your name of other crimes the perpetrators may have committed.

Clean Up Your Cyber Hygiene

After a data breach, it’s a good idea to clean up your cyber hygiene by improving your online habits and (and ensuring your employees do the same).

Consider the following tips for improving your company’s cyber resilience:

  • Ask employees to use strong, unique passwords.
  • Update your company’s hardware and software to ensure it has the latest security settings.
  • Encrypt your hardware and data and back up everything.
  • Use antivirus software and a virtual private network (VPN) to protect all company devices from viruses and bad actors.
  • Make sure company email spam filters are updated.

Specializing in Data Breach Recovery Services

If you’ve been breached, it’s crucial to rely on data breach recovery experts—and that’s what we do at Forsyte I.T. Solutions. We specialize in security breach recovery services that get your organization up and running again. Our data breach recovery team is ready to discover what personal information was stolen and implement a cyber recovery solution tailored to your needs. After the smoke clears, Forsyte takes a zero-trust mindset regarding your future security. We aim to prevent future breaches by stopping bad actors at the gate using Guardian 365, the ultimate emergency disaster recovery solution. Contact us today to learn more about our services.

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