Data security is paramount for most organizations because data is considered lifeblood of a successful business. Information such as client details, payment information, bank account details and others must be kept secure and confidential at all time because it is difficult to replace and can be risky if they fall into the wrong hands. can have serious consequences. Data breach and data lost can have serious consequences for your company including downtime and expensive legal fees. Therefore, it is critical that companies use data security mechanisms and procedures to protect their information against physical and digital threats.
Physical and digital security
There are many ways the people involved in your business can lead to a data breach. According to 2018 research conducted by Shred-it, more than 40% of senior executives and small business owners report that employee carelessness or accidental loss were the main reason of their most recent data security breach.
Many data breaches are caused by a negligent physical security. Physical threats such as theft, natural disasters, fire and others have always been an issue for businesses. With the arrival of the digital age, we have seen an increase of digital threats and the rise of tools such as firewalls, encryption, passwords, antivirus software and others. But with so much attention on protecting against cyber risks, we, sometimes, forget about how serious physical data threats risks can be.
How can you protect your company against security threats?
There are other measures that everyone can do to help protect themselves and their organizations from physical and cyber threats:
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Adopt and Enterprise Mobility Management solution
Digital security can be empowered by the use of Enterprise Mobility Management systems which are sets of systems deployed to prevent unauthorized access to enterprise applications and/or corporate data on mobile devices.
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Encrypt your data
Keeping your software up to date and all your devices protected with password may not be enough to stop hackers and cyber threats. Data encryption is a step further because it is one of the most secured ways to ensure a computer system’s information can’t be stolen and read by unauthorized users. Data encryption is the conversion of data from a readable format into an encoded format that can only be read or processed after it’s been decrypted.
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Keep all personal information safe
A surprising amount of information can be kept by devices even after cleaning hard drives or performing factory resets. To ensure that your information is effectively destroyed you may need to follow device-specific instructions or get an expert advice.
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Increase security on log on
With one security token (a username and password pair), you can enable and disable user access to different systems, platforms, apps and other resources. This can also reduce the risk of lost or forgotten.
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Use role-based access control (RBAC)
This is a method that can keep data more secure and allows your organization to decide who accesses what type of the data, based on their role in the company. Therefore, employees are only allowed to access the information necessary to effectively perform their job duties.
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Test your data security system
Security Testing practices, such as risk assessments, vulnerability scanning, security assessment, can help organizations to ensure that their sensitive data is protected and to identify threats to data security and prevent them.
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Back up data
Backing up your business’s data is essential to be able to recover lost information in the event of an attack. It’s advisable back up your important data and information regularly. This process will lessen the damage in the event of a breach or computer problem.
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Use spam filters
This programs are used to detect unsolicited and unwanted email and to reduce the amount of spam and phishing emails that your business receives. Applying a spam filter will help diminish the chance of opening a phishing or fraudulent email by accident.
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Train your staff
It is important to instruct your staff on the data threats they can face on a daily basis and their essential role to keep the business safe. Your team need to be aware of their responsibilities as well as their network access usage. Training your staff on maintaining good passwords, being aware of deceptive emails and fishy online activity and other good cyber security practices.
These simple steps can help you to protect your business from cyber and physical threats while maintaining customer trust and confidence.
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