11 Ways to Overcome Cyber Security Threats In Digital Marketing

The growth of online activities has promoted digital marketing channels for reaching out to customers. In the process, organizations are getting exposed to greater cybersecurity threats.

The staggering numbers of cybercrimes have caused major setbacks to several online enterprises. Eventually, it affects digital marketing agencies also, causing a breach of essential marketing data.

‍Several measures to stall the cybersecurity challenges have not been enough, and the hackers always seem to find a way to get into the system.

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Here we suggest a few critical measures to secure your data and systems from the challenges posed to cybersecurity.

1. Backup data regularly

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Every bit of data needs backup; especially the vital files, the loss of which can lead to loss of revenue. The backup can save you in many embarrassing situations such as:

• Hardware crash

• Ransomware attack

• Malware hijacking

Sensitive marketing data stored in different mediums will enable you to protect data even if there is a malfunction.

2. Use encryption certificate

Use Specific Key Encryption wherein you get to use the private and public keys. The certification dictates the key size and authenticity of the encryption made. When you utilize it for HTTPS, the encryption will change. Symmetric encryption gets used for the private encryption process. The certificate will verify the signature when used.

3. Educate the employees on security

A single employee’s negligence can risk the entire system as cybercriminals can gain access and create havoc. To prevent these security breaches, educate the digital marketing agency employees on cybersecurity. It needs the organization to invest time and money for training the employees. One weak link can break the whole chain.

4. Find out the security risks

If you can detect the risks that are present, you will know how to prevent them. Identification of risks helps you to face the challenges posed by cybercriminals.

You can then design suitable control measures to counter those malicious intentions before they cause a significant impact on the organization. Build up a risk register so that quantification can help bring about policies that work to stop the risks from manifesting.

5. Use strong passwords

Cybercriminals come looking for:

• Marketing accounts

• Credentials

• Content (usually vital information)

Strong passwords are great deterrents and make it hard for them to breach and get what they want. Use different passwords for different accounts, change them regularly, and avoid using your password for unfamiliar sites. Such diligence can help to prevent vital marketing information from getting into the wrong hands.

6. Install a VPN

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When you use a VPN, you can create an encrypted tunnel that allows you to send scrambled data to a remote server. It is an excellent way to prevent anyone from knowing the origin of the message because you get a temporary IP address, which the network provides, hiding your identity.

The VPN acts as a shield and an anonymous middleman who will not allow anyone to know the activities you have been doing on your systems. VPN has the capacity to also prevent certain malware websites, ads, and other trackers that may try to reach your system.

7. Monitor hardware and networks regularly

For the network to be secure, you will have to monitor it regularly and see that unwanted discrepancies don’t creep in. When you happen to find any issues, you can troubleshoot and fix them before they are noticed by cybercriminals who find such loopholes as an easy entry into the organization to get after what they want.

8. Update operational security measures

Look into the information or data, so that there is no compromise at any stage. Hence the team for cybersecurity has to work on operational security measures. It all depends on the responsibilities as well as the authorization that is defined by the organization. The clarity will ensure that potential lapses are avoided at all times, and the exposure is limited.

9. Protect the critical assets at all times

The crucial data potentially becomes a huge threat if fallen into the wrong hands. Such data must be safeguarded with utmost priority. The core of cybersecurity monitors has to emphasize important data and ensure that no breach occurs.

Remember that digital marketing agencies deal with crucial marketing data including personally identifiable information (PII) and payment data. Make sure that you comply with all the data privacy laws and PCI DSS (payment card industry data security standards).

10. Clean up clutter, maintain digital hygiene

Ensure that unwanted data and spam are not mixed with important data. Maintain sensitive data in an organized way.

11. Make way for 2-step authentication

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Cybercriminals utilize brute force techniques to hack the data. So make sure that your data has multi-factor authentication (MFA) or two-step verification wherein you get the one-time password from a shared secret key.

If you are only using basic cybersecurity tools to prevent breaches, cyber criminals can easily break-in on them. Work on a broader security strategy that includes continuous surveillance, proactive upgrading of tools and systems, and continuous training of employees and business partners.