Modern businesses across industries collect and generate vast amounts of data. From internal company data to client records, payment information, intellectual property, and employee data, there is no shortage of sensitive information that companies must handle responsibly.
But what happens when data ends up somewhere it shouldn’t
This is known as data spillage, and without proper caution, it can have serious consequences for your business. Unlike cyberattacks from outside threats, the root cause of most data spillage is human error—think sending the wrong file to someone, or misconfiguring a cloud folder so anyone can access it.
The good news is that data spillage is largely preventable with proper training and awareness. As cybersecurity professionals, ITque uses a broader practice known as Data Loss Prevention (DLP). DLP is the industry standard method for detecting and preventing accidental data spillage before it takes a costly toll on your business.
In today’s blog, we’ll identify what data spillage is, including how to identify a data spill vs data breach, and explore how data loss prevention tools like access controls and encryption prevent data spillage.
What is Data Spillage?
Data spillage, also known as data leakage, refers to the accidental transfer, sharing, or exposure of sensitive information to a person, device, or network not authorized to receive it.
Data spillage differs from a hack or cyberattack in that there is generally no malicious intent behind data spillage. It’s most often a result of either human error, misconfiguration of systems, or insecure handling of information.
Some common examples of data leakage include:
- Improper disposal of devices (old PCs, hard drives, phones, etc) that still contain sensitive data.
- Sending confidential client information to the wrong contact.
- Uploading files with personal or sensitive information to a public cloud folder.
- Copying confidential data to an unsecured drive.
While these issues are often honest mistakes, they have the potential to cause damage to your organization—from regulatory fines and potential lawsuits to lasting damage to your company’s reputation.
What Is Data Loss Prevention?
So how do you prevent data spillage or leaks from jeopardizing your organization’s integrity? The answer is through the practice of data loss prevention solutions.
Data loss prevention (DLP) is a set of strategies, tools, and policies to prevent data leakage and unauthorized movement of data throughout an organization’s entire IT infrastructure.
DLP systems use techniques like pattern recognition, machine learning, and content analysis to control how, where, and when sensitive data like credit card numbers or trade secrets can be shared.
There are multiple types of data loss prevention solutions:
- Network DLP: Monitors outbound traffic to prevent unauthorized transmissions.
- Endpoint DLP: Protects data on user devices, USB drives, and local file systems.
- Cloud DLP: Protects data across SaaS applications.
Together, these tools form a multi-layered shield that serves as the backbone of a comprehensive DLP cybersecurity approach.
Data Spill vs Data Breach: Understanding the Difference
The terms data spill and data breach are often used interchangeably, however, they actually describe two different types of security events. The key to understanding the difference is intention.
- Data Spill: Typically accidental and caused by simple mistakes, like sending the wrong email to a contact, poor access control, or improper disposal of devices.
- Data breach: An intentional attempt to steal information. Also known as a cyberattack or hack, common forms of data breach include phishing schemes, malware, and hacking.
Both data spills and data breaches can expose an organization’s most sensitive information, but how an organization responds to an incident will depend on its origin.
A data breach response focuses on threat detection and network defenses, while responding to a data leak requires a different approach, one that targets human error.
User training, access management, and DLP cyber security are the most effective techniques for correcting and preventing future data spills.
Common Causes of Data Spillage
Understanding how data spillages occur is one of the best forms of prevention. Without a proper understanding of how they occur, it’s easy for employees to unintentionally expose sensitive data.
These are ITque’s top 5 most common causes of data spillage:
1. Email Misdelivery
Sending sensitive information via email to the wrong recipient is the most common source of data spillage. Even a single typo in an email address can expose important data to the wrong recipient.
2. Poor Access Control
Another leading cause of data spillage is access control. When employees have unnecessary access to files or databases, the likelihood of accidental data spillage increases. Strong data spillage access control limits data access only to those who need it, and keeps boundaries between departments.
3. Misconfigured Cloud Apps
Cloud applications allow employees to access networks and data from virtually anywhere, but poorly configured platforms or storage can expose that data to anyone with an internet connection. This has become an area of even greater concern with the rise of remote working.
4. Unencrypted Devices
Companies should make use of encryption to prevent data spillage. Lost laptops, smartphones, and flash drives that are unencrypted are an easy entry point for unauthorized access.
5. Improper Disposal
Secure disposal to prevent data spillage is essential. Devices that have reached the end of their lifecycle must be properly wiped and disposed of, or the data left on them could be easily misappropriated. Even printed documents must be shredded or properly disposed of to prevent unwanted exposure of data and information.
How to Handle Incident Response for Data Spillage
No matter what precautions you take, having an incident response plan for data spillage is vital. An effective response plan should utilize these 5 steps:
- Identify and Contain: You must be able to determine what data was leaked, how it happened, and who had access. Then, you must revoke the permissions that lead to the leak, and isolate the affected systems.
- Assess the Impact: Did the leak contain sensitive data that is protected under privacy laws like HIPAA, GDPR, or CCPA?
- Notify Stakeholders: You may be required to notify regulators of the incident, as well as notify affected parties in a timely manner.
- Address the Incident With Your Team: Whether the cause of the leak was technical or the result of human error, you must address the incident with your team and update DLP controls or provide training to prevent future incidents from reoccurring.
- Post-Incident Review: Documentation and policy updates should be made with the intention of minimizing the chance of a repeat incident.
Without an incident response plan for data spillage in place, you will be left scrambling to identify and contain the leak, and formulate a proper response. This can leave your organization exposed to legal action and financial penalties.
Even with a response plan in place, regularly testing and refining it ensures your team can act swiftly when mistakes occur.
Best Practices and Policies To Prevent Data Leakage
Having DLP solutions and a response plan in place are crucial to prevent data leakage, but a complete approach to DLP cybersecurity requires internal policies and regular training that foster good habits.
1. Strong Access Control
One of the strongest policies to prevent data leakage is restricting data access to those who need it specifically for their role. Role-based permissions ensure employees can only access specific data sets when it is relevant to their role. Access controls must be regularly updated too, particularly when employees leave the company or change roles.
2. Utilize Encryption Everywhere
Both communications and physical devices should use encryption to prevent data spillage. This ensures that even if data is leaked, it will be unreadable to unauthorized users.
3. Conduct Secure Data Handling Training Sessions
Human error is the leading cause of data leaks. Employees should be trained regularly (at least yearly) on secure data handling to avoid spillage, including how to recognize phishing scams, verify email recipients, and classify data correctly.
4. Establish Clear Policies to Prevent Data Leakage
You must have written policies to prevent data leakage that specifically lay out how data should be stored and transmitted, as well as methods for secure disposal to prevent data spillage. Complete policies cover removable media (USB sticks/external hard drives), personal devices, and data retention limits.
5. Implement Layered Data Loss Prevention Solutions
A complete DLP approach utilizes all the tools at your disposal, including encryption, access control, and endpoint monitoring to create multiple lines of defense. A layered approach ensures that even if one control fails, others help minimize the impact of any leak.
ITque: Your Partner for Data Loss Prevention
Successful data loss prevention solutions require a different mindset than traditional cybersecurity. Because the nature of these incidents stems from human error, building a culture of data security in your organization is key.
At ITque, we specialize in DLP cyber security and managed IT services that help businesses keep sensitive data safe from accidental exposure and loss.
Our team can help you:
- Identify vulnerabilities in your networks, devices, and cloud systems.
- Implement customized data loss prevention solutions.
- Deploy encryption and access control policies that ensure only authorized employees can access sensitive information.
- Provide ongoing training to employees on secure data handling practices.
- Create and test incident response protocols that ensure you can respond rapidly and appropriately to incidents.
Remember, reducing human error is the key to data loss protection. Let the team at ITque equip your organization with the data loss prevention tools, training, and awareness to keep entirely preventable data leaks from occurring.