Published on March 28th, 2017 | by Guest

Data Security Advice for Small Businesses

If you’ve missed the news headlines over the last five years, then you may not be aware that cybercrime has become a huge beast that is becoming increasingly difficult to tame. Cyber criminals are targeting anyone from an 18 year old visiting a sports streaming website to major global businesses. Nobody who uses an online device is safe from these criminals, and more and more money is being extracted through illegal online techniques.

If you are running a small business, then here are several big factors that you need to be considering:

Backup of data – Losing data can be catastrophic. If you lose critical files, then this could cost your business a lot of money. You should always ensure that you have adequate backup processes in place should the worst happen. There is a selection of different backup options for you to choose from, such as a portable hard drive or backup software. Even if your security is breached, then you do not have to pay the fines of hackers as you can call trusted and intelligent data recovery services who offer corrupted hard drive repair. To stop the loss of data, you should always have a fallback option or risk your business going into failure.

Employee knowledge – If you have a team of employees, you are trusting them to be as careful with sensitive data as you are. However, they may not be as knowledgeable or committed to data security as you are, especially as the main responsibility will sit with you, the employer. By educating your staff on the importance of data security and measures that they should be taking, your business will be in better shape to take care of data security.

You may also want to develop specific data security processes for your employees to follow. For example, when sending sensitive data via email, encryption software should always be used. There are lots of similar precautions that you should be thinking about and developing into strict policies that your employees must adhere to.

Update your software – It is important to keep up to date with any updates for your software packages, as this will prevent weaknesses being penetrated.

Install antivirus software – Antivirus software is a critical part of keeping your systems secure, so you should invest in this to prevent the damage that viruses can cause.

Use of Internet – Your employees can put your systems at risk by going onto high-risk websites. It can be difficult to monitor this in small businesses but certain browsers will prevent access to untrusted websites, and if you have firewalls installed you can further prevent this issue. Make sure that your employees are aware that browsing untrusted sites could lead to viruses and hackers getting into your systems, and therefore obtaining your data.

Data security is totally paramount as a business owner, and you should prioritize data security at all times. The consequences of not doing so can be massive, especially if your business operates in a highly regulated industry. Ensure your bases are covered with regards to your data security, otherwise you will have to fear the consequences of your actions.

Tags: advice, data, small business