Sometimes we overthink the best ways to keep our business safe. There are some rather easy data security tips that we take for granted everyday. It’s important to remember that not every security breach is cyber-related. For every computer hacking or digital error, there is the human error of losing paper documents.
One of the most shocking statistics is that around only 30% of small businesses take active measures to guard themselves against a security breach. It’s estimated that 60% of hacked small businesses go out of business after six months of a security breach. These numbers are not a coincidence. They are a correlation.
What you can do to combat this?
– You should physically protect your files and office laptops. Safeguarding important physical documents can go a long way towards providing your company the security it needs.
– Sticking with the physical aspects of running your business, you should always shred old documents. Keeping around old docs is an easy way for them to be snatched and used to commit identity theft and credit card fraud.
– Moving back to the tech side of things, two fixes you can do are update your software and always use a secure wireless location. You would be surprised at how many small businesses fail to regularly update their software, which usually leads to nasty viruses like Ransomware. Not securing your wireless location is an easy way to put a target on your back.
– Never download anything from an unreliable source. Always be careful about where you download from. This should be common knowledge, yet many of us still do this. Cyber-criminals are notorious for attempting to have you download infected software from one of their scam sites.
– Guest12345 just isn’t cutting it anymore as your office password. Sorry to break this news to you. As cyber-criminals become more skilled and brazen, your passwords need to become virtually unhackable. Unique, personal passwords that only you understand and can remember, are the way to go. You must also use numbers, symbols, and some upper-case letters.
– Here we come to perhaps the most important aspect of security. Having proper backup. When the worst occurs, knowing you have a current remote backup of your system and data can make all the difference. Restoring your company’s data without major downtime, in just a few clicks, needs to be at the top of your security list and paid attention to.
