Five Simple Ways To Keep Your Company Data Secure

Keeping your company data secure is an essential part of protecting your company, employees, clients, and yourself. Data breaches leave businesses exposed to legal threats and fees, and can cause irreparable damage to a company’s reputation. Check out these five simple ways to keep your company data secure, so you can sleep soundly knowing your client, company, and employee data is protected.

 

#1- Create A Security Strategy For your Business

 

You’d take safety measures to protect your personal data, so it makes sense to extend this strategy to your business. This should also extend to handling data when remote working or on employee’s devices.

Creating a written policy on security will ensure that you have a central and clear action plan for your employees. Considering everything from how often you change your passwords to how employees should send and store data will also create a foundation for developing staff training. You can also use a VPN on your computer – the VPN meaning is Virtual Private Network and it enables you to browse the internet more securely and with less chance of being maliciously tracked.

Managing how you’d respond to a data breach is also an excellent strategy for handling and resolving security issues. Sometimes despite your best intentions, someone attacks your data, so it’s essential to be prepared. If you’re a European business or work with EU companies, considering GDPR compliance will also ensure that you meet the legal requirements for storing and handling sensitive data.

 

#2- Hire A Managed Service Provider

 

If you aren’t sure how to implement a strategy yourself, you should hire a Managed Service Provider (MSP). MSPs are third-party businesses hired to manage your IT services in the same way an internal staff member would be trained to do. For an upfront or monthly fee, you will get a team of staff that can provide tailored support, from providing basic IT support to advice on malware installation and monitoring of any system downtime to prevent opportunities for data breaches.

 

Managed Service Providers are also traditionally considered more affordable than internal IT staff, as they are cheaper than the cost of paying a wage to an individual, and you can work with a team of trained staff that protect your data and company security. Hiring them to manage your IT security can free up your time to work on business-critical elements of your business without worrying about security threats.

It’s important to protect your data using a secure virtual private network (VPN). A VPN protects your network connection when you use a public network. The best VPN for windows 10 will protect your IP address without making a big impact on internet speed.

#3- Purchase Effective Malware

 

Investing in decent malware software is a great way to minimize business risk. Protect your PCs and networks from security breaches by investing in malware and anti-spam software.

 

Protecting your systems starts from the primary first step of switching on your network firewall. Then, source malware that can identify suspect websites and hacking, and combine this with anti-spam software to protect your employees from malicious email spam. Many malware packages come with integrated antivirus and malware software.

 

Although many PCs come with the basic packages (like Windows Defender), these often offer minimal protection. Invest in high-quality, reputable malware. If you work with an MSP, they should advise you on the best malware on the market.

 

#4- Streamline Your Password Management

 

How often do you find yourself using the same password on 20 different online accounts? Mix these with any number of employees, and the risk of hacking or threats only increases.

 

Streamline your password management by using a password management service like

LastPass. Password management services allow you to ‘store’ your passwords securely and automatically generate complex passwords to replace old passwords or create ones for a new account.

 

Using these systems as part of your company policy will ensure that no staff members are tempted to use their old favorite password on your internal systems. Setting up mandatory password updates on PCs will also help keep devices secure.

 

#5- Train Your Staff

 

Data security begins by educating internal employees on how to handle sensitive physical and digital documents. Running yearly mandatory sessions on these with new and established employees will ensure that they are always aware of managing data security. This should cover the more obvious responsibilities, like disposing of documents securely or locking your laptop, and extend to cover the broader company policy. Educating your staff on phishing schemes and dodgy email links will help keep your company data secure.

 

Set up a strategy for keeping your data secure, and train your staff on handling data in a safe way. If a data breach does happen despite your best intentions, at least with a plan in place, you can ensure you manage it effectively. Purchase good malware and password protection software and work with an MSP to ensure you have the right team and equipment in place to protect your company from threats.

 

 

 

 

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Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) https://www.accountingaccidentally.com/