Disclosing confidential data before a company's financial report is a serious violation that can lead to legal consequences and damage to the company's reputation. Understanding common data leakage channels can help companies strengthen internal security measures and prevent potential risks. Here are some common channels that employees may use to leak confidential data: 1. **Email**: - **Personal email**: Employees may use personal email accounts to send sensitive information to external parties. - **Internal email**: Abuse the company's internal email system to bypass monitoring measures. 2. **Cloud storage services**: - **Public cloud platforms**: Such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc., employees may upload data to these platforms and share links. - **Private cloud services**: Use unauthorized cloud services to store and transfer data. 3. **Instant messaging and chat applications**: - **Social media and messaging applications**: Such as WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, etc., for quick transmission of information. - **Internal company chat tools**: Abuse internal communication tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc. 4. **Physical devices**: - **USB flash drives**: Copy data to portable devices and take them out of the company. - **External hard drives**: Use large-capacity storage devices to transfer large amounts of data. 5. **Printing and copying**: - **Paper documents**: Printing sensitive information and delivering it by mail or other means. - **Photocopies**: Copying multiple copies of confidential documents and distributing them to external contacts. 6. **Internal network and system vulnerabilities**: - **Abuse of access rights**: Using high-privileged accounts to download or transmit sensitive data. - **System vulnerabilities**: Obtaining and transmitting information through technical means to bypass security measures. 7. **Social engineering**: - **Tricking colleagues**: Obtaining access rights or sensitive information of other employees through deception. - **Disguise identity**: Pretending to be a trusted individual to obtain data. 8. **Third-party services**: - **Outsourcing and partners**: Indirect transmission of data through cooperation with external service providers. - **Unauthorized applications**: Using unapproved software or platforms to process and transmit data. **Preventive measures**: - **Access control**: Ensure that employees can only access the information they need for their work. - **Data encryption**: Encrypt sensitive data to prevent unauthorized access. - **Monitoring and auditing**: Monitor data access and transmission activities in real time and review logs regularly. - **Employee training**: Improve employees' security awareness and educate them to identify and prevent potential security threats. - **Formulate strict policies**: Clarify the procedures for data processing and transmission and establish disciplinary penalties. Understanding the above leakage channels will help companies identify potential risk points and take corresponding protective measures to ensure the security of financial reports and other sensitive data.