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A data leak is when sensitive or private information, like passwords, personal information, or financial data, is accidentally exposed.
Data leaks are often caused by weak security practices, accidental exposure, or human error
Data leaks can lead to data breaches, identity theft, financial fraud, and ransomware attacks.
In this post, we’ll cover what a data leak is, how it happens, how cybercriminals exploit it, and how to prevent data leaks in your organization.
A data leak is a security incident when sensitive data is exposed to an unauthorized party due to internal errors.
This can happen due to various underlying reasons, like human error, misconfigured software, or inadequate security measures.
Another common example of a data leak is when sensitive data is posted on the dark web following a cyberattack.
No matter the original cause, the consequences are often quite severe, including financial loss, legal penalties, reputational damage, fraud, and identity theft.
The terms “data leak” and “data breach” are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct differences.
A data leak is caused by an unintentional exposure of sensitive data, while a data breach is caused by a deliberate attack.
While data leaks are often caused by human error, data breaches usually involve an attacker intentionally breaking into a system to steal data.
A common example of a data leak is an employee accidentally sending an email containing personal information to the wrong recipient or a misconfigured S3 bucket that allows public access.
While both a data leak and a data breach can lead to the same results, the key difference is in the intent and method: a data leak is typically accidental, while a data breach is intentional and involves malicious actions to access or steal data.
Data leaks happen in various ways, often due to a combination of human error and technical vulnerabilities. Some common causes include:
All types of sensitive data can be a target for a data leak. The most common types of data leaked include:
Protecting these types of data is crucial to prevent identity theft, financial fraud, reputational damage, and other consequences of a data leak.
Depending on the type of information leaked, attackers often exploit data leaks for:
Beyond the obvious privacy issues when personal or sensitive data is leaked, there are several other consequences that can affect your organization.
Leaked financial data, such as credit card details or bank account information, can lead to financial fraud and significant monetary losses.
Personal information obtained from data leaks can be used to commit identity theft, causing long-term issues for the affected individuals.
Organizations often suffer from reputational harm as well. The loss of customer trust can severely impact the bottom line.
Depending on the nature of the leaked data, organizations can face regulatory fines and lawsuits for failing to protect sensitive information.
Data leaks can disrupt business operations, especially when critical systems or data are compromised.
Finally, leaked data often provides cybercriminals with valuable information to launch further attacks, such as ransomware or phishing campaigns.
RECOMMENDED READING: The biggest data leak examples
Once data has been leaked, it can’t truly be “unleaked.”
Once sensitive information is exposed and shared online, it’s often copied, distributed, and stored across multiple platforms, making it virtually impossible to fully remove.
Even if it’s deleted from one location, there’s no way to ensure that it hasn’t been duplicated or stored elsewhere.
The best course of action after a data leak is to take steps to protect yourself, such as changing passwords, monitoring accounts, and implementing security measures to prevent further misuse.
Preventing data leaks requires a combination of technical controls, employee training, and organizational policies.
As with most things in cybersecurity, it’s extremely important to get the fundamentals down right. Make sure you have an updated asset inventory and that all software is regularly updated and patched. Conduct regular security audits and pen tests to identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with relevant data protection laws.
Next, identify where your sensitive data is stored and classify its business value. Once you know what needs protecting, set up RBAC (role-based access controls) to limit access to only those who need it. Verify that the data is encrypted both at rest and in transit to protect it from unauthorized access.
Once the basics are covered, deploy DLP (data loss prevention) tools to monitor and control the movement of sensitive data across the network and prevent unauthorized access or transfer. Make sure you have an incident response plan ahead of time to quickly respond to data leaks and mitigate their impact.
Implement a policy requiring the use of password managers and multi-factor authentication to secure user accounts. Beyond your own perimeter, assess the risk of your third-party vendors who have access to your data and ensure they meet your security standards.
Make sure you have continuous dark web monitoring in place to locate any leaked data before criminals have a chance to exploit it.
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