How can a business protect its data?

Keeping your data safe and secure is an important job for every business owner.  Hackers, viruses, and employee error are potential hazards every business must prevent to keep their data secure. You may ask; how can a business protect its data?

First, you need to understand where your business is vulnerable.  Do a security audit and test your entire IT infrastructure.  This includes your computers, networks, and mobile devices.  Once you know some of the spots you need to improve, you can form a data protection strategy.

Employee Error
Hackers and viruses are usually the main focus in a business’s data protection strategy but one of the biggest threats is employee error.  Consultants, partners, and vendors all access your network.  Put a security policy in place so the people who enter your network have specific rules to follow that ensures your data security. For example, mandate that all computers used to connect to your network have security software (firewalls and antivirus software). Have a rule in place that reminds your employee not to exchange security information over the phone and encourage the use of strong secure passwords.  This can help minimize the threat to your data.   Keeping your employees involved will make it a habit to think about data and network security and can also create a team work environment.

Lost, Stolen, or Corrupted Data
Your data can be stolen, corrupted or lost.  These are risks you need to prepare for. One of the main things you can do to keep your business running is to have a back up strategy.  This will ensure that you can recover your data at any time.  Without a back up strategy your data can be lost forever.  Back up your data regularly. Whether it’s hourly, daily, or weekly, it’s really up to you to assess how much data you can afford to lose.  You can use the software already on your computer or there are plenty of third party programs out there to use.  Storing your data offsite can also protect it from any natural disasters that may occur.

Along with backing up your data, it’s a good idea is to encrypt it.  Even if the data is stolen it cannot be used to harm you or your clients. Encrypt individual files, folders or an entire disk.  There are hundreds of methods a variety of ways to keep your data safe. Make sure you invest the time and money in encryption programs and antivirus software.

Cyber Risk Insurance
Now that you have done your research and put together a data protection strategy there is one more thing you can do.  Cyber risk insurance proves that insurance carriers are becoming more sophisticated and in tune with today’s world. Cyber risk protects technology companies like yours. If your system is breached, it can disrupt or even ruin your business.

Cyber risk provides protection to all types of business from inadvertent disclosure and theft of confidential information such as social security, bank account and credit card numbers, and damage to or destruction of computer systems and data form computer viruses, hacking and criminal activity.

Any organization that stores or transmits confidential information or whose operation may be subject to disruption from the failure of technology needs cyber risk insurance.  Cyber risk insurance can especially help information technology companies mitigate their cyber risk.  The cost of this insurance depends on the size of the company, type of industry, amount and type of information stored along with other factors.

Contact a technology insurance expert to learn more.

Image by darkfarmer.com