How to protect your digital assets

The security of digital assets is essential for any business. Digital files, media content, and tokens are important assets of any company. However, there are risks associated with possible data theft. Therefore, protecting digital assets should be carried out by different options. We cover the main methods of protecting personal digital assets and business assets in this article.

What are digital assets, and why are they important?

A digital asset is an asset that has a certain value and assigns legal ownership but is not tangible. For example, music is intangible. However, music is subject to copyright – it is a property right and should be protected. Modern digital assets are not only music, pictures, and videos. These are also crypto assets. In particular, such assets are various cryptocurrencies, utility and security tokens, and NFTs.

Digital assets increase the overall capitalization of the company; they bring value to the investor. They can be sold, bought, exchanged, or donated. Therefore, digital assets are no less important for organizations than physical ones. 

What are the ways to protect assets?

To effectively protect digital assets, conducting a complete inventory of all digital assets is essential. It is crucial to define its type and number to choose the most effective options. There are five main ways to protect your digital assets, and we’ll discuss them below.

Digital asset management system

A digital asset management system is essential for secure storage. Cloud storage provides a high degree of digital assets protection and can store many assets, making it suitable even for large companies. Today, services based on cloud storage technology are actively used.

Professional systems come with a Content Distribution Network (CDN). CDN uses decentralized buckets to store files. This ensures that assets are available to users anywhere, but unauthorized access is impossible.

Digital asset management systems can handle approval workflows, secure exchanges, and even use artificial intelligence to enhance information security.

Data backup

Data backup is necessary to prevent the loss of digital assets in a technical failure. Copies of files are stored in secondary storage, making assets available for quick recovery. In addition, backup is used for data considered vulnerable in a technical failure. Finally, a backup copy allows you to restore lost information quickly.

There are lots of possibilities to make a backup on different media. It can be both hard drives, SSD, and cloud storage. This can be public, private, or hybrid infrastructure. Many companies must perform a backup procedure at least once weekly. Moreover, copying can be configured so that only new or changed data is backed up. In addition, backup methods can be combined.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Any assets should be protected from unauthorized access as much as possible, and it is necessary to use the maximum number of methods to provide such protection. Previously, only passwords were used, but this method is not always effective because it is easy to steal passwords. A more effective means is used in the modern world – two-factor authentication.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the second level of identity verification. The most popular option is 2FA with a one-time code. This code can be received in the form of an email, SMS, or through the application. There is also two-factor authentication based on biometric data: for example, signing in can be done after a fingerprint scanning.

Login systems based on two-factor authentication significantly increase the degree of protection against unauthorized access. Hacking such systems is very difficult and takes a lot of time. Therefore, for reliable protection, it is important to use not only a complex password but also 2FA.

Data encryption

Any information can be intercepted at any time. Severe problems arise during data transmission. Attackers can intercept information about digital assets or access data to databases. Specialists use encryption to prevent such a problem. Endpoints must be authenticated before the file is sent, and decryption is done after the recipient receives the asset. Encrypted files can also be intercepted, but the attacker will not have access to them. Instead, they will have to decipher the information, which is impossible in many cases or is costly.

The primary encryption tool is the TLS 1.2 protocol, also known as HTTPS. Data is divided into several parts and mixed during sending. For this, an algorithm is used, which is controlled by a public key. The recipient of the information decrypts it using the private key.

Encryption is also vital if the files are stored in the cloud or on some third-party service. It is recommended to use secure access policies to protect information. In this case, it is possible to control who requests data access.

Secure storage of assets for web systems and applications involves separating the user base and digital assets. Therefore, it is essential to encrypt the database in addition to encrypting the fields that store user information.

Employee training

Even if the company strictly follows all security recommendations, its employees may be weak links. For example, they can become victims of social engineering or make a mistake subject to severe consequences.

It is necessary to inform employees about the threats related to specific digital assets. They must filter the information they see and post online. If critical data is published once, it can lead to theft of assets even after a few months. Also, it is crucial to train employees not to fall for phishing scams and be careful about emails from unknown senders, which may come to email or social networks: in this case, it’s better to send such mail for verification to the security department immediately. It is vital to prevent virus infection. If company representatives are aware of all possible risks, the likelihood of the theft of digital assets is significantly reduced.

Summary

Digital assets include not only documents or media files, as we wrote above, but also crypto assets. Therefore, a digital asset protection system is critical for any company that issues or invests in crypto assets. Thanks to the tips above, you can get an initial understanding of the security system for digital assets. Please contact our specialists if you want to learn more about digital assets (in particular, different types of tokens) and their benefits for your business. We will be glad to assist you in selecting the correct type of tokens and preparing for their issuance.