Digital security is a concern that is increasingly present in the minds of managers today. After all, everything from fraud with CPF to bank invasions with theft of funds, including leaks of confidential data, are just some examples of risks that companies are subject to when transacting in this environment.

Businesses and brands can still suffer from damage to their image in situations where their customers are affected. However, the advantages that virtual tools provide to processes make them indispensable. In other words, it is essential to pay attention to this issue urgently in order to benefit safely.

To do this, we will tell you what the 4 pillars of this type of protection are and much more in this content. Check it out!

What is digital security?

This is the set of processes, measures and tools implemented to ensure the protection of assets — both information and values ​​— that are in a virtual environment.

It applies to devices, networks, software or files, acting through policies, security solutions and monitoring or blocking activities, the objective of which is to prevent financial losses resulting from:

• leaks or improper access to confidential data;
• fraud, crimes or digital scams .

The need to promote actions in favor of digital security is not something new. Even in its early days, the commercial use of the Internet was already accompanied by fraud, damage and crimes, requiring measures in this regard ever since.

However, with the popularization of e-commerce purchases , operations via virtual banks and other transactions in this environment, this concern has grown. With home office, strategic business information is now available in the cloud or discussed in online meetings, further increasing the pressure on this issue.

More than that, in the current complex economic scenario, new electronic control, organization and productivity tools have been widely used in order to increase competitiveness.

Thus, this protection has gained importance as the need to use these resources and the resulting risks have also become greater. After all, today there are many situations that occur in this environment whose impact is negative and, therefore, need to be avoided.

To give you a better idea of ​​what they are, we have an infographic that presents the 5 most frequent cyberattacks. Check it out and find out what your company needs to protect itself from!

In addition to responding to current demands, investing in this protection provides the business with several advantages:

• promote a sense of security for employees, suppliers and customers;
• eliminate the damage that leaks cause to reputation and corporate image;
• increase response capacity to attacks;
• reduce losses from fraud or other crimes;
• comply with the General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD);
• minimize human error and its effects.

What are the 4 pillars of digital security?

As seen, digital security involves a series of preventive or corrective actions. Therefore, to guide its implementation, it is essential to know the pillars associated with this concept. See the 4 main ones below!

1. Confidentiality and authenticity

Even before the regulation that the LGPD added to the processing of information, this practice was already seen as confidential within digital security.

In this sense, such elements should only be accessed or manipulated by authorized personnel and in accordance with legitimate interests. To this end, some actions that ensure the authenticity of the user's identity must be taken. Among them:

• have access control policies;
• use encryption;
• rely on two-factor authentication;
• create strong passwords.

2. Integrity

Integrity is the pillar of digital security that refers to the quality of information. It presupposes the need to ensure that data is reliable, true, complete and accurate. In other words, that it has not been corrupted in any way.

In order to preserve these characteristics, it is essential to invest in the implementation of protective barriers that prevent their alteration or deletion outside of authorized conditions, as well as avoid human error, fraud or cyberattacks.

3. Availability and accessibility

The clearest examples of the damage caused by the lack of availability involve financial losses caused by an inaccessible or unstable virtual negotiation channel and failures resulting from the lack of information for consultation.

Basically, this pillar implies that when it comes to services, software, platforms or digital environments, their supply cannot be interrupted. Putting this into practice includes:

• make maintenance agile;
• avoid attacks;
• have a disaster recovery plan;
• eliminate gaps in systems.

4. Traceability and irrevocability

As complementary ideas, traceability and irrevocability are concepts that allow us to achieve absolute certainty about the authorship of an action in the virtual environment. Identity certification tools, passwords and electronic signatures are some of the means capable of promoting this.

This way, it is recorded who, when and how an event occurred, eliminating the possibility of denial by the people or companies that carried it out. Thus, liability for damages, errors and failures can be assessed.

How to implement digital security?

The 4 pillars of digital security already provide several tips and examples of measures capable of promoting it. However, putting it into practice, implementing an advanced level of protection, requires a complex set of actions, including:

• develop an information security policy containing all behaviors, standards and rules for data processing, which serves as a guide for those involved in this activity;
• promote the good use of this document, training the team and updating it frequently to keep up with technological changes;
• maintain a qualified IT infrastructure and team, whose resources allow the implementation and smooth running of the best processes in pursuit of this goal;
• adopt means of access control and authentication aimed at the confidentiality and traceability of users;
• create a prevention, monitoring and risk management plan that guides employees’ actions in these situations.

Digital security is based on the four pillars presented above to implement practical actions that allow businesses to benefit from its advantages. Therefore, investing in this is essential in the business environment. After all, the lack of this protection opens the door to risks and damages.