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Data theft is the illegal transfer or storage of any information that is confidential, personal, or financial in nature, including passwords, software code, or algorithms, proprietary process-oriented information, or technologies.
Considered a serious security and privacy breach, the consequences of data theft can be severe for individuals and businesses.
Techopedia Explains Data Theft
Common modes of data theft are as follows:
- USB drive – Using the thumb-sucking technique, the information can be moved to a thumb drive or USB drive. It is considered as the easiest method of data theft as the storage capacity of USB devices are increasing over time with the cost decreasing.
- Portable hard drive – Large information can be transferred using portable hard drive
- Devices using memory cards,PDAs – Pod slurping is possible with devices using memory cards and PDAs
- Email – Another popular way of transmitting information is through emails.
- Printing – Another method used in data theft is by printing information and illegally storing or distributing the same.
- Remote sharing – Using remote access, data can be transferred to another location from where the data can be distributed.
- Malware attack – Malware attacks are potentially capable of extracting sensitive information.
How data theft can be prevented:
- Encryption of confidential information or personal information.
- Data management system to have necessary security measures to ensure the corporate files are not moved or accessed illegally.
- Periodic reviews on devices and systems which can pose high risk.
- Usage of restricted network in organization.
- Restricted usage of devices capable of data storage.
- Laptop lockdown and biometric security measures.
- Protecting confidential and personal information using password.
- Use of anti-malware software.
