Data security has become more important than ever. As a business owner, you can’t afford to overlook the importance of a sound data security strategy.
Data Security Strategies that Your Business Should Follow in 2021
Running a business is more than just making sales and calculating finances. You also need to be on top of security. A data breach, as an example, could have a devastating impact on your company, including the trust that clients have for you.
Considering some of the simpler ways to keep that information safe can go a long way towards your standing in society, as well as giving your employees and clients alike that reassurance that their personal information will not fall into the hands of anyone who does not have permitted use.
You need to take these precautions to protect your data. They can go a long way towards shielding your company from the risks associated with them.
Human Resources
HR tasks span across recruitment, personal details, onboarding, training, payroll information, and even vacation entitlement or absence management. Due to the large scope of work, and the different information each might hold, it is important that your company is using a secure HR software. This will protect the data at hand, while still making it easy for those involved to access and amend, as necessary. This may also be more secure than simply having the data stored on workplace computers as, with the loss of the computer, you may also lose that data.
Passwords
When you and your team set passwords, to access computers, software, and websites, you may want to consider the security of the passwords in use. Using commonplace knowledge, such as your name, your company name, or even your date of birth could leave you open to hacking. Instead, setting a secure password, and not saving it or writing it down anywhere it can be accessed by others, can do far more to protect you. Opting for a mix of letters, both capital and lower case, as well as numbers and permitted symbols can increase security. It is also vital that you use a different password for each system as, that way, if one becomes compromised, you are unlikely to have lost security across the number of systems and accounts that you use.
Access to Information
Alongside protecting the information from those outside of your organization, you also need to consider who is required to have access, and how to secure any data away from members of your company who should not be able to view it. By limiting exposure, you can ensure that employees do not hear about sensitive information pertaining to others. This can be achieved either by using a locked cabinet for paper-based files, where only those permitted have access to the keys, or a secure database online where, once again, only those who need access can see all the information.
Security also extends beyond the information you hold. Understanding the rules regarding the storage of data, and permanently deleting or shredding this information if asked to, or after a certain time period, will need to be carried out. For this to work well, you need to implement more than one security layer, including working with professional shredding services, which will give you a better position to guarantee confidentiality to your clients. If a data breach does occur, you should inform those it affects, as well as the relevant authorities, as soon as possible, so that steps can be taken to alter other data, cancel payment methods, and try and re-protect that information.