Securing Your Business: What You Need to Do to Keep Your Valuable Data Out of the Wrong Hands

Your business data is one of the most valuable things you own. But, did you know that most businesses are “sitting ducks” when it comes to security? It’s true. It’s so easy to hack into most routers, and it’s because most people don’t take simple measures to secure their data.

For your business, it could mean the difference between having customer data stolen or thwarting an attack and saving your reputation.

Training

Employee training should be the number one priority. If your IT team hasn’t yet gotten the CISSP certification or doesn’t know how to get CISSP Certification, that should be high on the priority list. It will help you better understand security and how to organize and protect your infrastructure and network systems.

Non-IT employees also need training on basic security protocols, like using strong passwords and security practices to avoid security vulnerabilities. For example, an employee might use public Wi-Fi to access the company’s servers. This should be prohibited activity. Why? Because public Wi-Fi is rarely secured. This means that data thieves could be scouting for passwords and usernames.

It’s an open invitation for theft.

Protecting Devices On and Offsite

Understand the key risks with devices. One of the biggest risks is devices employees use. These are boarding points for malicious apps. If they download anything from the Internet, consider it a threat. With more and more employers allowing BYOD (bring your own device), the risk is greater than ever. The recent hacks at the U.S. government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) involved the loss of 7% of the U.S. population’s personal details. This happened because of a malware infection.

This is especially problematic for companies that allow companies to use their own devices at work. Either lock down your network or don’t allow employees on it when they’re there. Some apps will silently connect to networks and download data even if the employee doesn’t open the app or use his or her phone. This means that any phone connecting to the network is a potential threat.

Set a policy for device usage, and coordinate with your IT team about locking down your system to prevent an attack from the “inside.”

Here’s another tip: install web-protection apps that block devices from visiting known hacker sites, or sites with malicious software. Use centralized management software to monitor every employee device on your network.

Use Authentication

Strong authentication is also important. Encrypting information on a PC or mobile device is ideal. It’s useful as a way to protect data from prying eyes. And, it’s a good practice for all companies to do, but especially important for sensitive information that employees access on a regular basis. In fact, this information should live on corporate networks and out of reach of the employee (so they can’t download it).

Effective cybersecurity isn’t a zero-sum game. No one thing will protect a company entirely from malicious actors, but a combination of different measures can reduce the probability of attack. Attackers will often go after low-hanging fruit. In many cases, effective security may simply mean being less hackable than the next guy.

Eve Davey is a geeky girl who works in the world of cyber security and encryption technology. She enjoys data and numbers and likes blogging on these topics for business sites.

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