Data helps the world go around, but not everyone who wants access to it should be allowed to have it. Criminals and unscrupulous marketers use personal data for financial gain and their attempts to get it can get nasty. 

Tricks, ransoms, and theft are increasingly common. Whether you are an individual or a business, data protection tools are critical. 

Sometimes simple, sometimes more complex, there are various things you can do to protect your data. Here are six essential data protection tools and examples to help you keep yourself and your networks secure.

1. PhoneHistory

PhoneHistory is ideal for protecting your data if you’ve had a phone call from an unknown number or a suspicious caller. 

This website can help you avoid robocalls, which allow scammers to automatically dial many potential victims per day. Robocalls can respond naturally, making it seem like there is a real person on the line. Checking unknown numbers instead of immediately answering can save people from being scammed. 

Covid, postal, Microsoft, and IRS scams are prevalent. These scammers use various methods to get confidential information from you to access your data, with which they can potentially commit fraud, including identity theft.

When in doubt, end the call and use PhoneHistory to find more information about who owns that number, including the name of the user, the carrier, the state, and the area. With a large database of cells and landlines, there is a good chance it will give you useful results. 

2. Firewall

A firewall monitors everything coming into a network and everything going out. It’s the first line of defense against hackers.

It might seem far-fetched that a hacker is targeting your network, particularly if it’s a personal network. However, cybercriminals look for vulnerabilities through which they can gain access to your contacts, which may include more lucrative targets. 

Cybercriminals are sometimes opportunists. Having no firewall is a major vulnerability, like leaving the front door of your home wide open. 

Protect your data by installing, activating, and maintaining a firewall. The firewall that comes with your device might be convenient but not necessarily the best for your security. Avast Premium Security is excellent and works on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

And, while it might be a little pricey, Norton 360 Deluxe provides many features, including a VPN, dark web monitoring, a password manager, and online backup.

3. Backup and recovery

As well as protecting your data from attack, it’s a good idea to protect it from accidental loss. Much data is lost as a result of human error. It might be as simple as a colleague saving over an existing document. The data might be lost when we transfer it from one location to another. 

Physical theft is also a major way by which businesses lose mission-critical or personal data. Employees or visitors do sometimes steal laptops. Opportunists steal laptops from cars. If personal data is unencrypted, it could be lost or exposed, which could lead to significant lawsuits and fines.

A robust cloud backup system, like Ninja One or Google Cloud, can give you peace of mind. A cloud backup system can automatically back up your files. It can also allow you to access them from any location with an internet connection, and offer you several restore points. 

4. Antivirus and antimalware

Malware can allow an attacker to seize control of your device or corrupt your data. Having gained unauthorized access to your data via malware, a criminal may be able to read, steal, or sell it. Or they could hold it for ransom.

Mobile devices and most major online email services now come with some antispam protection. You can recognize potentially dangerous spam emails and many scams on sight. For those that make it past you, however, you have antivirus and antimalware software.

Viruses and malware overlap, but they are not the same thing. Malware refers to all the latest nasties, including trojans, keyloggers, ransomware, and viruses. A virus is specifically a piece of self-replicating code that can damage your data or your machine. Cybercriminals tend not to use too many viruses these days, but it’s worth running both kinds of software if you can. If you must choose, however, it’s probably a better idea to go with antimalware as this is the bigger, evolving threat. 

Market leader Norton 360 provides both antivirus and antimalware in one tool. AVG also provides comprehensive antivirus and antimalware protection with an excellent free version if you don’t mind some ads.

5. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

SIEM software, such as McAfee SIEM, helps organizations identify their system’s vulnerabilities and potential security threats. It gives firms an advance warning so they can take action to protect their data. 

It is a great tool for risk analysis and risk management. SEIM has gone from a type of technology that mostly performed logging functions to something that can now harness the power of AI and machine learning. SEIM now delivers user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA).

In a world of increasing legal requirements for cyber security compliance and reporting, a SIEM tool can save a business time and help it make critical security decisions.

6. Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems

When it’s time to go more heavy duty for your business, consider an IDPS. 

Cybercriminals are constantly looking for new ways into the networks of individuals and businesses. Developers are constantly upgrading security measures and fixing software vulnerabilities, but they can’t always be ahead of the criminals. 

While a firewall can be a critical part of a data protection strategy, it’s not the end. They are not 100% effective and unwanted intrusions to a network can still occur. 

An intrusion detection and prevention system generally operates just behind the firewall and works to keep an eye on things that are passing through the network. If it detects a problem, it can not only alert the administrator but it can also take automated action to prevent an incident.

Microsoft offers one of the top-performing IDP systems. Azure Firewall Premium IDPS offers 24/7 monitoring of your network, enforces intrusion rules, detects and blocks malicious presences, and, of course, logs all events.

IBM’s IDPS Management works well in complex IT environments. Its threat intelligence services integrate well with an IT officer or department.

Conclusion

In today’s data-driven society, every business and every individual will benefit from some understanding of data protection. Whatever your needs, this list of six data protection tools provides a number of ways to stay safe and protect the people in your personal and professional digital networks.