Our expanding digital footprint, including what we share on social media and
via email, places us at growing risk of identity theft, data breaches, and
cybercrime. Managing your online presence is critical to safeguarding your
privacy and security, and it is imperative to take a proactive approach,
including the use of robust cybersecurity best practices. However, these
tools alone are not enough. Working with a Managed Security Service Provider
(MSSP) can help both businesses and individuals securely manage their
digital footprint and effectively mitigate the risk in an increasingly
digital world.
Risky business
Having an extensive digital footprint comes with heightened risk, including
identity theft. Many online interactions result in the capturing of
Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as an identity number, full
name, date of birth, physical address, and more. Often, we give consent for
this information to be shared, which reduces our privacy and enables
companies to perform targeted advertising. In addition, if this data is not
managed effectively, it is at risk of being captured and harvested by
cybercriminals. When sensitive data is leaked or compromised, it can have
lifelong repercussions, including negatively affecting your future job
prospects and social standing.
Those with malicious intent can use this stolen information to carry out
criminal or fraudulent activities, including taking out loans and opening
accounts in your name, which can negatively affect your credit rating and
leave you liable for bills you cannot afford to pay.
Aside from the direct impact of identity theft, criminals can also use this
information, as well as information many people share freely on social
media, such as the names of their children, the schools they go to, and the
places they visit, to develop extremely convincing spearphishing attacks.
Using a combination of personal information and Artificial Intelligence
(AI), cybercriminals can create convincing deep fakes that can be used for a
variety of nefarious purposes.
Proactive protection
The reality is that we need to be careful with the information we share
online because anything we put into the public domain could potentially be
stolen and used against us. Limiting the type of information you share
online is always a smart move, especially on social media. When in doubt,
don’t share it. There are also proactive measures you can take to manage
your digital footprint more effectively. One thing we absolutely should be
doing is using strong, unique passwords, because this significantly reduces
the risk of an account being compromised. This can be tedious, but there are
secure tools to assist, like password managers that generate and store them
for you.
It is important to ensure we apply MultiFactor Authentication (MFA) wherever
possible. This is considerably more secure than Two-Factor Authentication
(2FA), which is becoming less effective as attacks evolve. While 2FA uses
something you know (like a password) and something you have (like a one-time
PIN), passwords are easily compromised – often because people choose easily
guessed passwords or reuse them – and PINs can be intercepted. MFA adds
another layer of security – something related to who you are (biometrics
like fingerprints or facial recognition), which is far more difficult for
cybercriminals to crack.
It is also essential to regularly review the privacy settings on any online
platform we use. This can be time-consuming, but it is critical to reducing
and managing our digital footprint.
Having a partner in your corner
Working with an MSSP can help individuals and businesses better manage and
secure their digital footprints with a variety of products and services. For
example, MSSPs can monitor the dark web for compromised personal information
and alert individuals and businesses if their data is compromised. If a
compromise is detected, an MSSP can also provide guidance and education on
best practices and proactive steps to address the breach. They can also
offer insight into how to prevent this from happening in the first place.
MSSPs can assist in implementing data protection strategies that involve
identifying and classifying sensitive information based on its sensitivity,
as well as encrypting data both in transit and at rest. For organisations,
MSSPs can also do vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to
identify and address weaknesses in defence and help to prevent exploits that
could compromise data.
Individuals (and many businesses) lack the budget and necessary skills and
resources to effectively manage their digital presence. This can, in turn,
result in a lack of security measures as well as a lack of visibility into
the risks. MSSPs offer scalable solutions tailored to needs and budgets
delivered with the specialised skills required to comprehensively and
securely manage digital footprints of all shapes and sizes.