A data breach can cause long-lasting damage to your business. In addition to impacting your finances and potential liability, the company may experience a long recovery time to restore systems and update security. Despite the significant repercussions, many businesses are still vulnerable to attack. For this reason, we are providing informative advice on how your business can avoid a data breach.
Identify the Location of Your Sensitive Data
Surprisingly, 25% of professionals do not know where their company’s sensitive data is located. We, therefore, recommend embarking on a risk assessment to identify any security vulnerabilities. Not only must you learn where your data is located, but you must have an effective backup strategy in place to protect your important data.
Only Use Secure Third-Party Vendors
Many businesses turn to third-party vendors to successfully manage different aspects of their organization, such as shipping or payroll. Yet, they could pose the biggest threat to your business if they have failed to protect their own operations, which could create a significant security threat to your data. We, therefore, recommend creating a professional contract for all third-party vendors to sign to ensure they adhere to your security requirements.
Employee Training
Unfortunately, the biggest threat to your data security could be your employees. While an employee often accidentally causes most internal data breaches, it isn’t uncommon for a disgruntled member of staff to steal or sabotage your files. Not only must you identify any deliberate breaches, but you must also provide your employees with the appropriate data security training. For example, advise staff on how to pick a strong password, the best time to encrypt data or how to avoid harmful malware. Don’t forget to provide regular refresher courses to ensure every team member adheres to your data security requirements.
Destroy Data Prior to Computer Disposal
Many businesses will need to dispose of various devices each year. Yet, you must never throw a computer directly into the bin. Not only are electronic devices bad for the environment, but they may also contain your company’s sensitive data.
Many people believe files disappear once you hit delete, but those critical files will remain on your hard drive if it is not wiped clean so that the data could fall into the wrong hands. We, therefore, recommend opting for a Secure Data Recovery service, as they can effectively dispose and destroy the data on various systems and storage devices.
Ban Sensitive Data Transfers
Never lose track of your data’s location by banning the transfer of data from one device to another, especially to external devices, such as an employee smartphone. Moving data can pose a serious threat to your sensitive information, so you should ensure every member of staff sticks to the data security policy, or they will face serious repercussions, such as suspension or automatic dismissal.
Have you experienced a data security breach in your organization? Do you have any top tips to share? Feel free to post a comment below.