There are many important aspects of your business, from the office equipment to the filing system. However, there is one aspect of your business that, if lost, is impossible to replace. Your data encompasses everything from financial information to the personal data of customers. It’s completely unique to your business and without it, it’s almost impossible to continue normal operations. If you fail to keep your data secure, the consequences to your business can be devastating. Click To Tweet

Keep Your Data Secure

Protecting stored data involves more than preventing unauthorized access of your files, but should also prevent accidental destruction, infection or corruption of your information. While data encryption is a popular term thrown around when it comes to hard drive protection, it’s just one of many technologies that can be used to implement a data-security strategy. Here are 5 crucial ways to keep your data secure:

1) Always Backup

Backing up your data is the single most important step in protecting yourself from data loss. How often you back up depends on how much data can you afford to lose if your system crashes. Most businesses backup every night, but if you’re doing massive transactions or inputting huge amounts of data, you may want to backup even more frequently.

2) Embrace Cloud Services

Many businesses question the security of information stored in the cloud. The internet can be a dangerous place for sensitive data, but your own computer faces the same threats. The reality is that a good cloud storage provider is likely to protect your data better than you might be able to on your own. If you’re worried about personal information making its way to the dark web, consider a hybrid cloud service, which combines a public cloud with your own private cloud or data center. With a little planning, you can take advantage of the benefits offered by the cloud while making sure your organization’s data is safe and sound.

3) Enlist Professional Help

Who’s handling your IT? If you’ve tasked an amateur employee with managing IT as well as their normal job duties, you may be putting your data at risk. A designated IT service ensures that critical IT systems are always online, and threats are identified before they can do damage. A proactive and well-maintained computer network will operate infinitely better than the alternative.

4) Have a Recovery Plan in Place

Before implementing a data recovery plan, complete a risk analysis and business impact analysis to determine where to focus resources in the event of a disaster. While no one wants to experience an emergency or breach that halts work and causes data loss, these events happen every day. Before it happens to you, you should plan how employees will respond, what kind of backups will be available and how long business will be interrupted.

5) Implement Security Measures

Data protection starts with you and your employees. It’s very important to provide strong passwords to prevent your files from being hacked. There are sites offering tips on how to form strong passwords.It’s also important to change these passwords frequently, and not share it with anyone. Most login pages these days have additional verification measures for logins from other devices, and these should be utilized. This might be something you’ve heard 100 times, but are you following the guidance?

Limiting Vulnerabilities

Keeping data secure from vulnerabilities in today’s digital world isn’t as simple as putting a lock on a filing cabinet. Even if you take every precaution with your information, there are still many ways that your data can be accidentally mismanaged and left exposed. Be sure to restrict the accessibility of particularly sensitive data from employees, giving only a few trusted staff members the authority to access such information.

Ensuring Efficiency

As your company grows, protecting your data should be at the forefront of your mind. You have a responsibility to your customers and employees to keep their information safe and secure. This includes protecting data in transit, data in use and data at rest (stored data).
Adequate IT oversight is absolutely necessary for the security of your data and the efficiency of your business.

Contact Us to learn more about securing your data and operating without interruption.