The digital economy is booming, and businesses are becoming data-driven in all their operations. Data is integral for your customer journey, marketing efforts, and IT systems. So, if your data falls into the wrong hands, it can cause financial loss, damage to your brand, or identity theft. What’s more, your business could also face some legal consequences. Therefore, protecting your data is crucial for your business.
In this post, we’ll explain why protecting data is crucial for your business and share tips on how to go about it.
What is Data Security?
Sending data online has many benefits, such as saving time, reducing paper usage, and minimizing printing costs. However, it also comes with risks like losing your files or accidentally sending sensitive information to the wrong person.
Data security mostly entails understanding how to always keep your data safe, including when sharing it online. Also, you should protect sensitive files when sending them via email or online collaboration services. This helps prevent your confidential files from interception, hacking, or leaks. Read on to know more.
What is Metadata, and Can It Risk Your Data?
To establish control and security of your data, you must prevent anyone from accessing the metadata. This is the data that gives context to a document, image, or email. For example, when you create a document in Microsoft Word, you can add metadata, such as the title, author, and publishing date. Your metadata can include your name, phone number, and email address.
If you send this document to your clients, the metadata is visible to all recipients, including the government, cybercriminals, and data brokers. In addition, metadata, such as the sender’s email address, can be used to track you, find your social media accounts, and even hack your email and social media accounts.
Therefore, when sharing sensitive information online, like your email address, it is vital to strip the metadata from the message. You can do this using an end-to-end encryption service, such as a virtual private network (VPN) or trusted third-party encryption software.
Tips to Protect Your Confidential Files When Sending Them Online
Here are a few tips for protecting your confidential files when sharing them online:
1. Use a Dedicated File Transfer Service
A dedicated file transfer service lets you send encrypted files to multiple recipients. This is one of the most secure ways of sharing sensitive data without worrying about cybercriminals.
There are numerous file transfer services that you can use to send large files online. But, FileWhopper is one of the most secure file transfer options today. Data, files, and folders sent via FileWhopper are encrypted using a password you create before sending the file. So, if anyone intercepts your files, they won’t be able to access them without the password. This also means you must share the password with your file recipient after sending the file.
After you send a file, you will receive a unique transfer ID, which is part of FileWhopper’s zero-knowledge encryption feature. FileWhopper service gives file transfers a unique transfer ID so that the actual metadata of specific files and folders isn’t recorded. Therefore, in case of a file leak, nobody can track your information or easily tell what the file is about.
Also, this service can transfer even 10 TB of files. Therefore, you don’t have to send big files in small parts anymore. So, if you have been wondering how to send large files, FileWhopper is what you need.
2. Use an Antivirus on Your Computer
Nowadays, major viruses are not common in PCs due to inbuilt device security features that scan and eliminate any malware. Nevertheless, you should never underrate the damage viruses can do to your data. If you are used to clicking links online, this might easily cause a virus to infiltrate the system and corrupt your files. So, it is essential to set up antivirus software to alert you of any malware on your PC.
If you’re using Windows 10 or 11, you should consider setting up Windows Defender by allowing real-time virus scanning to detect any malware. The Windows defender will locate and quarantine any malicious data or automatically delete them. Apart from Windows Defender, you can use any trusted antivirus software.
3. Avoid Public Wi-Fi
A public Wi-Fi is an encryption-free connection that does not protect your data paths and may allow hackers to monitor all files and folders shared between you and the server. A hacker can easily track all the users connected to the public network to adjust, replace, or steal data. An attacker can access the details of your browsing activities, account passwords, and purchase transactions if you are on public Wi-Fi. So, it is crucial to use a trusted Wi-Fi network, especially when handling sensitive files.
4. Use End-to-End Encryption
If you’re sharing sensitive information with clients, employees, or third parties, you can use encryption software. Such software enables you to encrypt your files to protect your data from being hacked. So, it makes it compulsory to have the required permissions to view the data.
5. Don’t Send Confidential Information Via Social Media
Social media platforms are unsuitable for sending private information since they are highly targeted by cybercriminals. If you need to share a password with a client, client contact information, or other sensitive information, don’t send it via social media. Instead, use an encrypted messaging app, such as WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram.
6. Encrypt Your Hard Drive
You should encrypt your hard drive to protect your sensitive files from being hacked. This way, even if your computer is hacked, the hacker won’t be able to access your sensitive data. Keep in mind that not all computers support this feature, and it takes time to encrypt your hard drive.
Conclusion
Sharing files online has become a huge part of life. Therefore, you must figure out how to do so without worrying about security issues. We hope this article has helped you learn about cloud data security, especially how to send files securely.
Summary
Sending sensitive data online can be risky business, but you can make it safer using data encryption and trusted data transfer services.
Also read: How AI and Data Analytics Can Improve Your Business
