Keeping Your Company Secure: 5 Tips to Data Security
Data security is a growing challenge, and ensuring your company’s data is safe is an on-going effort. To keep your information secure, you need to evaluate your system strategy to stay on top of the latest developments.
By KEVIN DEVOTO
As you get started, follow these five tips to help make sure your company always comes out on top.
Create a Data Strategy
As you review your data security, start creating an organizational data strategy to serve as the blueprint for your company to use. Your data strategy needs to work in conjunction with your business strategy. These two ideas cannot function without the other in this modern age. As you begin, start to think about short-term and long-term priorities and goals. You want these aims to work within your existing structure or start investing in the framework needed to ensure success. Additionally, work with your IT team to review the data policy for how your company handles information. Finally, have a plan in place for any changes to your team or management.
Email Security
One of the largest security loopholes in a company is through emails. These are points of contact that your employees make with the outside world regularly. These everyday contact points are why you want to set systems in place with security tools such as TLS, virus screening and SSL. By implementing security measures at points of access, you can reduce security concerns for your company and clients. Additionally, with these additional rules in place, you can ensure that your data is securely encrypted whenever you send or receive documents. Get your email security system updated and have a review system in place to ensure that it continues to work with you.
Better Virus and Malware Protection
Your employees use the internet daily. This use may unintentionally lead to contact with a virus or malware from an unknown source. Take the time to review and update your virus protection. As you review your choices, go through and check that it has been tested and verified by independent labs. Once you know that the software will detect genuine threats, start looking for programs that run in real-time. This means that your software is always checking and removing any new threats. Finally, make sure that whichever application you choose is easy to use so that your employees can use it without extra training.
Update Training Procedures
Human error is a headache for any IT professional, and doubly so for those in data security. Without intending to, an employee can expose your company to multiple cybersecurity threats. Getting ahead of this issue is a must for any company. As you implement your data strategy, include updated training procedures to help your employees recognize potential threats and prevent future risks. Look for security courses that work for your employees as well as your company. To help you choose a program, look at the time required, costs, the skill level necessary and training frequency. Don’t forget to check-in with your team after the classes to see whether they are getting everything they need.
Secure Your Data Disposal
How you manage your data when deleting it is a risk easy to miss. Most people wrongly think that once you delete a file, it is gone from your computer. However, data recovery is a fairly simple process and one that can leave your confidential files exposed. Before you complete any data security overhaul, be sure to go through and secure your data disposal process. Improving this procedure includes looking at how your files are removed and devices destroyed. A few extra steps can ensure that once you erase your files, they are gone forever. Just be sure that your policies are in line with any legal requirements for data retention and destruction.
Once your strategy is in place, review and update these policies regularly to continue to protect your company’s interests. This will ensure your company and its information is always secure.
