Security has become an increasingly important concern for many different types of businesses. As more and more businesses have move their operations online, security is something that nearly all businesses need to consider. While running your business operations online can reduce operation costs, allow you to hire from a wider talent pool, and help you transact with a larger base of customers and other businesses, it does have its drawbacks. This mostly comes to sharing information and sensitive documents, which can fall into the wrong hands if you are not careful.
However, there are a number of things that your business can do to enhance its security and make sure that it is not caught up in a hack or cyberattack. With that in mind, here are some easy solutions that your business can employ to help tighten up its digital security apparatus.
1. Use a deal room
Many companies are not totally aware just how easy it is for hackers and cybercriminals to steal their documents. This can even happen when employees are able to access documents and download them for their own purposes. This can include incredibly sensitive information such as customer credit card numbers that only key people in the business should have access to. This is why companies that often make deals with other businesses need to employ the use of a deal room.
A deal room allows you to set user permissions so that only the right people can access sensitive information, and you can also use it to make sure that the other party you are transacting with has the same level of security and trust in your security that you do.
2. Educate your team on security
One of the easiest ways for data breaches to occur is by mistake. It is often the case that employees are not trained in basic security protocols and don’t understand whether they are putting your company at risk or not. This is particularly the case among older employees who may not be as proficient with technology. In order to prevent this, you should spend time and resources on educating your employees on security best practices. This, in turn, will significantly decrease the chances of information getting into the wrong hands that should be exclusive to your business.
For example, employees may not understand that using their personal email to do business may not be encrypted and is easily accessible by hackers. To prevent this, you will need to invest in their security education and give them a greater understanding of the security risks that their actions may pose, even if accidental.
- Back everything up
It is very important that your business spends efforts to create backups of all of its important files. This should be beyond basic computer drives that are accessible by hackers and other nefarious actors. While it doesn’t have to be in the form of a paper copy, it should be located in a place that is not easily accessible online. This is very important in case there is a ransomware attack. This is when a hacker or cybercriminal breaks into your system and steals your sensitive document, such as customer credit card information and address. They will then attempt to ransom it back to you at a steep price, or else they will leak the data and destroy your business. To avoid this, make sure that you have a backup of everything. Oftentimes, ransomware attackers are not legitimate with their threats, and having the backup of this data will allow you to avoid having to pay a steep fee to recover the data.
