5 Cost-Effective Ways to Ensure Data Security for Your Business
Cybersecurity is a big issue nowadays for companies of all sizes, simply due to the sheer number of active web users in the modern online world. The more companies are expanding into digital marketplaces to reach the online consumer base, the higher the probability of cyber-attacks and nefarious online activity becomes. This should come as no surprise, especially considering the fact that nine in ten cybersecurity leaders are concerned about the sharp and sudden rise of cybersecurity threats in the current digital climate.
So naturally, one of your top priorities should be to execute a strong cybersecurity strategy that will ensure proper data protection across the board, and keep sensitive business information out of the hands of hackers and online scammers. Today, we’ll be looking at the most cost-effective ways you can secure your business data.
Develop a culture of data security
First things first, it’s important to consider how your company’s culture affects your level of cybersecurity, and how your employees can be your greatest assets and your biggest liability when it comes to data protection. In a very real way, your employees pose a big threat to your business and the sensitive information you store in your cloud infrastructure if they have no knowledge on proper data storage and handling, online communication, and other crucial elements of cybersecurity.
This is why one of your top priorities should be to educate your employees on data security, what it means, why it’s important, and most importantly, how business data should be stored and handled. Firstly, you will need to create a comprehensive training module that will encompass all of the relevant theoretical and practical points on data security.
Next, it’s important that you conduct workshops with small groups of employees in order to make sure everyone can follow the program at an equal pace. Lastly, don’t forget to encourage your team members to ask any question and every question that might come to mind, in order to dispel any doubts, misconceptions, and fill in every knowledge gap.
Improve password security
The next step towards stellar data security is to introduce a strict policy on password creation and management in general. One of the prevailing problems business leaders face nowadays is the lack of password security on personal as well as company devices in the office. Keep in mind that every device, whether it’s a work laptop that stays in the office when the employee clocks out, or a personal smartphone they take home, all of these devices are potential gateways into your system.
Naturally, the first line of defense is the password that protects the device or the folders and applications inside, so it’s important to improve password security across the board. Needless to say, one of the best ways to improve network security by taking the password creation process out of the employees’ hands, and using a password management tool. These smart tools will create all passwords for you and store them in a safe place, which means that all work and personal devices will be protected by truly strong passwords consisting of random assortments of letters, numbers, and special characters.
Implement innovative network security measures
With millions of people actively browsing the web every single day from around the world, there is no denying that a potential cyber threat lurks at every corner, and that sometimes even your unsuspecting employees might facilitate an attack by visiting suspicious websites or downloading unverified software.
If you are to truly protect your system from such attacks, you need to implement comprehensive web filtering solutions that will protect your network on all fronts. Innovative security measures will safeguard your network from access to unauthorized websites, reduce the risk of data leaks, and allow you to retain complete control over the flow of data in your company.
Monitor email traffic and look for warning signs
Speaking of retaining control, another important element of cybersecurity is email monitoring and management. Oftentimes, employees will open suspicious emails or click on links that lead to suspicious websites simply because they are unaware of the risks, or are led to believe that they are following up with a lucrative lead, for example.
This is why you should leverage email monitoring software to look for those early warning signs and keywords that might indicate that an email is coming from an online scammer. This will allow you to act quickly, and stop a cyber-attack dead in its tracks.
Create backups and multiple restore points
And finally, it’s important to keep in mind that there is always a small possibility that something will go awry, so you also need to have a strong data recovery strategy in place. In the case of a system crash or a data leak, you should be able to restore all of your business data and resume your operation in a matter of minutes. To achieve this, you should combine cloud and local data backups, and your system should be set for an automatic daily backup at the very least if you’re constantly storing sensitive customer or client information.
Wrapping up
Ensuring data security is more important now than it has ever been, as the rising threat of cyber-attacks continues to jeopardize the reputation of companies of all sizes across the globe. Be sure to implement these solutions into your cybersecurity strategy in order to prevent data leaks and protect your brand’s reputation.