As indicated by IBM Security, in the U.S, the average cost of a data breach is approximately $150 per record of data. Cybercriminals are the perpetrators of most data security breaches where they use phishing and malware to collect critical business data.
As a company owner or a worker, you can implement several strategies to keep your company’s information secure. But, more importantly, you have to start by understanding the most common causes of data breaches. Then, you have to come up with measures to counter or avoid such breaches from occurring.
Below are ways to keep your business information safe and secure.
1. Safeguard Against Malware
You can avert information threats in your business by securing your systems and network against malicious malware using bug sweep services. However, unprotected systems and networks can be infected with malicious malware that can cause serious business data damage. Therefore, you must safeguard your PCs and network using:
- Use a firewall. Although using a firewall alone isn’t sufficient to keep your PCs and network completely secure, it offers the first line of defense. Therefore, you should always turn on your router’s onboard firewall to help prevent some of the data threats.
- Safeguard your email. Some hackers use spam emails to penetrate your business system when a user clicks or downloads malware attachments. Therefore, ensure you keep your emails clean using anti-spam software that protects against malware emails.
- Keep your PCs protected. Using complex security software, you can protect your PCs without impacting their performance. Install software that can protect against hacking, identity theft, and malicious sites.
2. Safeguard Your Wireless Network
If your business uses Wi-Fi, you must lay down measures to ensure the wireless network is secure. Failure to secure your Wi-Fi network will make it vulnerable to attacks from hackers. Therefore, you should strengthen the security of your network router using the best encryption technique possible to keep your company data secure.
Additionally, always make sure you switch off the broadcasting function to render your wireless network invisible. As a result, it becomes hard for hackers to penetrate your network, ensuring your business information is kept secure.
3. Create Strong Passwords
Many business owners and employees ignore the capability of a strong password to keep business data secure. Even though they may be challenging to remember, sophisticated passwords do offer better protection than simple ones. Ensure your passwords contain a minimum of eight characters and include numbers and other symbols to make it difficult for hackers to crack.
Additionally, make it a tradition to change your passwords frequently to make it hard for cybercriminals to penetrate the system. Ultimately, creating complex passwords can help you keep your business information secure.
4. Leverage Cloud Technology
If your business is a start-up that lacks expertise and technical capabilities to guarantee the safety of your business data, use cloud technology. Without adequate expertise and capability, security issues that require immediate attention can lead to vulnerabilities. If this is the case, outsourcing your business security matters to a cloud service provider is the best alternative.
A well-established cloud service provider can store your business data securely and implement all your security needs. Therefore, cloud providers can help keep your business data secure.
5. Turn on Automatic PC Software Updates
Most hackers like scanning networks to find the software version that isn’t updated to exploit the weaknesses. Therefore, you should turn on automatic software update on your PCs to allow the latest software version to install. This way, you’ll make it difficult for hackers to penetrate your network and safeguard against potential data breach threats.
6. Train Your Staff
Studies have shown that the majority of data breaches in most businesses result from mistakes committed by employees. If your workers don’t know or fail to implement your company’s security policy, they can expose your system. Therefore, ensure you carry out security training, create non-disclosure agreements, look for bug sweep services of office spaces, and consider installing cameras or security systems of a kind to protect your business information online and offline. Ultimately, knowledgeable workers will avoid practices that can put the system at risk and implement strategies to protect it.
Final Word
Overly, it’s not easy to keep your business data safe and secure because hackers are always devising new ways to penetrate security measures. However, with these tips and measures, you can enhance the safety of your business information.
Samantha Higgins is a professional writer with a passion for research, observation, and innovation. She is nurturing a growing family of twin boys in Portland, Oregon with her husband. She loves kayaking and reading creative non-fiction.
