This App Discovers Whether Your Confidential Data Is in the Wild

Global Velocity, a developer of security software small businesses can use to protect their critical data, today announced the release of the latest version of its flagship security application, Securio 4.0. The app has the ability to scour the dark sections of the Internet to locate stolen information and notify the victimized business that a confidential data breach has occurred.

In explaining how Securio 4.0 works, Gregory Sullivan, CEO of Global Velocity, told Small Business Trends in a telephone interview that his product learns a company’s most valuable digital assets. Then it scans the cloud-based managed services the business uses (i.e., Gmail, Dropbox, Salesforce), its internal networks and even the dark web looking for matching confidential data. When Securio finds a duplicate, it lets the company know.

Securio 4.0 Scours Dark Web Looking for Confidential Data

Recently, nearly 10 million patient records were stolen by a hacker known as “thedarkoverlord” from as many as four large health care organizations.

The perpetrator then placed the information, which contained names, addresses, email, phone numbers, birth dates and social security numbers, for sale on the “dark web.” It’s the part of the Internet that is unavailable to search engines and where most of the nefarious activity taking place on the web occurs.

It’s just one among many similar breaches happening these days. The Identify Theft Resource Center lists 522 so far this year involving nearly 13 million records.  And the incident should cause small businesses to seriously consider just how vulnerable they are to cyber attack. It should also cause them to take steps to protect personally identifiable data, or risk suffering a similar fate.

Thankfully, there’s an app for that: Securio 4.0!

“What we care about is where your confidential data is, and there are lots of places to look for it,” Sullivan said. “Data is not always placed where it enjoys the best level of protection. It moves from workstation to workstation or from a server to a thumb drive or a disc, and so forth. Sometimes, it leaves the organization. When it does, we want to know where it’s going and who’s moving it. Often, that data ends up on the dark web where it’s either shared or sold.”

He touted the precise nature of the product by saying, “Securio doesn’t look for things that appear to be credit card numbers, for example. It looks for the exact records. If it sees those being stored where they shouldn’t or going to places they shouldn’t, we notify the business.”

He added that the application could also prevent data from leaving if that’s what the company prefers.

Businesses Should Be ‘Data-centric’

Sullivan said that small businesses need to take a “data-centric” approach to security, to safeguard sensitive information.

“Businesses need to know what data is of greatest importance to them, and then take steps to protect their most valuable assets,” he said. “Most companies treat all data as having the same value, but that’s not the case. For example, because of HIPAA compliance regulations, a health care provider would place greater importance on patient records than other types of data.”

Steps Businesses Should Take When Data Is Lost or Stolen

When a small business encounters a data loss, the question that’s invariably asked is what can be done to remedy the situation?

“When confidential data has gotten out, it’s a signal that a vulnerability exists somewhere,” Sullivan said. “Either the business’s systems are not as secure as it thought, or someone inside the organization has leaked data either intentionally or through carelessness.”

To fix the problem, Sullivan recommended that businesses update their operating systems and software, install or harden firewalls, search for malware and clean out their systems, put security policies in place and then educate employees on them.

He also recommends hiring a knowledgeable IT or security advisor who can give the business perspective not only on how a breach might have occurred but also what steps to take in the aftermath.

Securio 4.0 Features

Another recommendation is to put modestly-priced tools in place to patch vulnerabilities and monitor what’s going on — which is where Sullivan’s product, Securio 4.0, comes into play.

For $8 per user per month, it provides real-time data monitoring of sensitive data across a business’s network, cloud-based managed service platforms and “in the wild,” a term Sullivan uses when referring to the dark web.

“Securio 4.0 enables enterprises to identify threats and swiftly remediate them, and that’s critical because an attacker needs only a few minutes to cause significant damage,” Sullivan explained in the announcement.

The new version of Securio 4.0 also comes with features such as patented fingerprint and pattern recognition technology, which automatically inspects specific types of content and flags suspicious activities, enabling users to identify quickly and thwart potential threats while significantly reducing the rate of false positives.

It can also detect when confidential data is transferred from one form to another, such as a Word document that’s turned into a PowerPoint presentation, and can help a business quantify the monetary value of data, such as intellectual property or customers’ credit card numbers. This enables users to determine the financial cost of losing data because of a breach.

“Most security solutions do not allow you to measure your organization’s financial exposure to a cyber breach or malicious insider at such a granular level, forcing you to search your entire system,” Sullivan said. “Securio 4.0 lets you roll out information monitoring on a step-by-step basis. For instance, you can start by looking only at credit card information, then focus on intellectual property, then add any other forms of personally identifiable information.”

Securio 4.0 Availability

Securio 4.0 is available now in three versions: a hosted SaaS solution, pre-configured hardware appliance or virtual machine.

Small businesses that use cloud-based managed services will want to take advantage of the SaaS solution while those not in the cloud should consider purchasing the hardware solution. (The virtual machine option is reserved for enterprise organizations.)

The cost for the SaaS solution is $8 per user per month; the hardware appliance requires a one-time outlay of $15,000.

Visit the Global Velocity website to learn more about Securio 4.0 and other managed service compliance and security options.

Image: Global Velocity

This article, "This App Discovers Whether Your Confidential Data Is in the Wild" was first published on Small Business Trends