Today, companies are finally increasing awareness of the importance of data protection. However, this understanding is not coming from training or through best practices, but instead from experiencing data breaches first hand, according to a study by the Irish Computer Society.

The company surveyed more than 300 IT administrators and found that more than two-thirds of them now have a clear understanding of the current data security and compliance rules in Ireland. Unfortunately, around half of the respondents said this was because of a data breach they experienced within the past 12 months, the report said.

Nearly 60 percent of these incidents were caused by employee negligence, lack of awareness or failure of internal operations, rather than an external attack, the study noted. As a result, companies are enforcing stronger data security policies and training employees on how to handle sensitive information.

Additionally, companies may consider implementing data classification policies in order to improve data loss prevention. These services require authentication to view sensitive information, track how it is used and where it goes, allowing organizations to follow the data and find who is responsible in the event of a breach.