The recent shift to digital communication has frighteningly increased the number of cyber attacks on both small businesses and giant organizations. And a data breach could turn into a terrible event for any company that collects and stores a lot of personal and confidential customer data on a regular basis. Keen to access business and customer data for financial gain or to harm the repute of an organization, cyber criminals are always looking for ways to steal data being stored or in transit across digital channels.
Due to the sensitive nature of customer data and the information they collect, insurance providers are always the number one target of modern thieves. They are also subject to strict data security and protection regulations than other businesses.
Here are some ways insurance companies can improve data security and digital communications with their customers all the time to keep data protected from third parties.
Undertake a security audit
It is important for insurance providers to carefully evaluate all the digital systems and processes being used to collect and store customer data. Whether you provide online life insurance quotes via your website or communicate with your customers via any other digital channel, make sure to check each step involved and find out where the data could be compromised by malicious parties. Also, evaluate what impact a data breach would have on your business operations. It will help you strengthen the loose holes to make sure no external or internal third parties can gain access to sensitive data.
Check your Security Tools
As the insurance sector is bound to use data security tools to ensure customer data is protected, you must check your security tools and processes to determine whether they are providing enough protection or not. Whether it is your insurance company website, mobile app, or database, make sure to check all the security tools like SSL certificate or firewall for possible security gaps and issues and get them fixed as soon as possible.
Evaluate Communication Channels
Determine all the traditional and digital communication channels and methods being used for both internal and external communication. Assess how customer data and files are being transferred between employees and customers. If there is a lack of an online file sharing solution, you must invest in a reliable one as they usually come with additional data security features to keep business data and files safe when being shared. Also, make sure that secured communication channels and tools are used to transfer data all the time.
Educate your Employees
According to experts, most data breach incidents are caused by internal elements like employee mistakes about effective data handling. Human errors behind expensive data breaches could be anything from opening suspicious links received via email attachment or leaving a business computer unlocked. This is where employee training and education come into play. Educate your staff about all the potential data security risks and steps they can take to prevent the vulnerabilities. Allowing customer data access is another best way to make sure nobody will have access to unnecessary data or information.
Check where data is stored
For insurance companies, it is very much important to understand clearly where the business files and customer data are being stored. Most companies are still using traditional internal servers to store business data and information. But many modern insurance providers use cloud-based data storage solutions for improved data security and real-time access to necessary data. Whether you are using an internal server to store business data or availing services of a third-party data storage solution, make sure to check your data is stored safely and is cannot be accessed by cyber criminals. If a data storage location is deemed to be not confident, be quick to take basic data security measures to ensure greater safety and protection.
Invest in early detection
Insurance providers should spend money on early detection tools and solutions to spot and spoil potential cyber security attacks. Early detection is very much important not only to keep data secure but to let attackers know that you are better prepared to protect business and customer data. Efficient detection and appropriate response to potential attacks also helps you determine the source of attack; information targeted and causes so you can make necessary changes in your cybersecurity plan in a timely fashion to avoid expensive data breach incidents. As a result, data security threats can be neutralized before a data theft incident come to pass.There are several early detection security solutions and software available in the market that insurance companies can invest in to detect security threats and flaws in real time to take essential prevention steps in a timely manner.
Final Words
Cyber criminals are persistent in gaining access to sensitive data and information for malicious purposes. That is the reason, you should not let your guard down for a moment and keep investing in advanced data security & protection technologies to stay ahead of criminals’ moves.
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