What Is Data Theft? A Simple Explanation in 4 Points

Introduction

In the contemporary world, data theft has evolved to be one of the major cyber-crimes that take place in the digital world from time to time since the very beginning of the virtual world. With the rapid growth of digital advancements, this issue has taken over the virtual world and an uncountable amount of people get subjected to it in their professional domain. Data theft not only refers to a minor digital crime, but it is one of the major ones that can also lead to identity fraud and identity theft. This article aims at presenting a detailed description of this cybercrime to make you aware of its repercussions; precautions so on and so forth.

1. What is data theft?
2. Tips
3. How does it happen?
4. How to protect yourself?

1. What is data theft? 

Data theft refers to the cybercrime that takes place when fraudsters or hackers gain illegal access to certain sensitive and private information that is not meant to be shared publicly. In other words, it refers to stealing information that is used later unethically eventually causing harm to big organizations. One such incident can collapse a huge organization by stealing someone’s identity, address, and position. One incident of employee data theft not only traps that particular individual, but it also goes on to affect the organization’s overall reputation and existence.

The major reason why this crime has developed over the past few years is the rapid advancements of technology that has made more and more employees gain access to sensitive and confidential data of the company.

Although employee data theft is the most common one, even common people come across such cybercrimes that make them end up in extremely dangerous situations. This kind of inter crime takes place from several social networking sites as well, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on.

2. Tips

1. The major preventive method for all the organizations would be to restrict data access and making strict regulations that need to be followed by the employees to access the confidential data. This way, the tendency of hacking would decrease in the long run. Employees, who would be allowed to access the private data, should be properly trained as to how to protect the data from being leaked.

2. Getting rid of all unnecessary paperwork and data from the system would be a very useful method. Immediately erasing unnecessary data is a great way to prevent corporate data theft. The lesser data, the more convenient it would be to manage them.

3. To avoid corporate data theft, it is important to remember not to click on unnecessary pop-ups or suspicious emails that might be potential phishing attempts from the fraudsters.

3. How does it happen?

The most common way is stealing information by hacking one’s personal or professional computer where sensitive information is stored. Cybercriminals get hold of your personal information, address, bank account number, and other sensitive information and make use of them illegally and unethically.

4. How to protect yourself?

1. The fact that it is so difficult to understand whether or not your data has been stolen makes it way more difficult to deal with it. However, if you feel that your sensitive data such as bank details or ATM card pin might have been hacked, immediately inform your bank and they will look into it thoroughly.

2. Creating several layers of protection for sensitive and confidential data would be a great preventive measure to stop corporate data theft. Creating strong passwords is of utmost importance to prevent this kind of cybercrimes.

3. Enabling a trustworthy firewall can be useful to prevent corporate data theft and protect all the necessary data of an organization.

4. Instead of registering with your bank details to all the apps/ websites, start paying through cash, It would definitely decrease the percentage of data theft.

5. Protecting your desktop and laptop with proper antivirus systems is very essential when it comes to preventing employee data theft. This way, your data would be protected, and hacking into your system would not be that easy.

6. Not connecting to random wifi networks is extremely important when it comes to data protection. Only using secured networks is preferable as far as protecting sensitive and confidential data is concerned.

Overall, using the internet safely should be taken into account. To keep our personal data private, a conscious effort must be put into data protection that would decrease cybercrimes in the long run.

Conclusion

Corporate data theft does not seem like it will go away completely anytime soon considering the advanced technological world we are living in. Therefore, the major tool to prevent this kind of cybercrime would be to stay conscious about data protection and spreading awareness regarding the importance of it among your peers. A collective attempt should be taken to prevent such crimes and that would not be possible until all the employees work together in a conscious manner for the betterment of their company.

So, have you made up your mind to make a career in Cyber Security? Visit our Master Certificate in Cyber Security for further help. It is the first program in offensive technologies in India and allows learners to practice in a real-time simulated ecosystem, that will give you an edge in this competitive world.

Also Read

• Cyber Security Scams To Be Aware Of (2021)