In 2021, the greatest threat to any business is a breach of data security. Data security means the protection of digital data. Against what? Anything from illegal access, corruption, to even theft.
Nowadays, such incidents are too common. This is because most businesses now work online. The rise in remote work and digital progress comes with new demands. To run a good business, availing Cox internet deals from internet companies is not enough. The most vital element is data security. Unfortunately, many businesses ignore it.
Table of Contents
Why Invest in Data Security?
A weak data security system can greatly harm your business. For instance, a breach in security leads to ineffective work. Moreover, your business loses profits—or even its name!
On the other hand, data security brings many benefits. For starters, you greatly reduce internal and external risks. Then, you witness an increase in work productivity. As a result, you rake in large profits. Isn’t that what every business wants?
Risks For Small Businesses
Aren’t these the concerns of only big businesses, though? Actually, no. Studies have shown that small to medium businesses suffer more from data breaches. In contrast, large companies are more protected.
Let’s see why. In a survey, 27% of 400 small companies said they did not use any security models. Additionally, 60% of them did not reinforce their security practices.
There are many reasons for this. While large businesses have many resources, small businesses don’t. Indeed, most of them can’t hire experts who can solve security issues.
Moreover, small companies often don’t detect any security breach. Often, they don’t even think they can be targets. Because of this, they are at an even greater risk of fraud or theft.
Therefore, data security should be of concern to growing businesses. Luckily, you can easily help protect your company’s data through some simple steps.
Password Protection
Companies commonly use passwords to protect data. However, many don’t do it effectively. The biggest problem is the use of weak passwords. Often, people use words and numbers that can be easily guessed. Hence, it is important to use numbers, capital letters, and special characters when setting a password.
Moreover, many people write down their passwords. They also store them using online managers. All these are easy targets for hackers. Thus, businesses must avoid these.
Erasure, Masking, and Encryption
Many consider it a good practice to erase data often. This is because the more data collects in a device, the greater the risk. Data erasure is different from simply wiping data. When you erase data, you fully overwrite it. This means you can not recover it.
Similarly, data masking reduces the risks of a breach. Masking refers to changing your data to hide sensitive information. For instance, you can replace key numbers or figures with placeholders. This way, you can use that data for demos without revealing important details.
Likewise, you can encrypt sensitive data. Through algorithms, you can scramble data to make it unreadable.
Access Management
Managing the access to key information of a business is a vital step. This means you should allow only certain people access to data. For example, a department head can know all the passwords, instead of all employees.
When few people have access to sensitive data, there are fewer chances of a breach.
Physical Security
Like digital security, physical security is also important. You can’t have someone running away with your servers, can you?
Wherever your data is stored, it should be secure. Whether in an office building, a data center, or a cloud server, it should be protected by basic measures. That is, you need to guard it against physical threats. These include intruders, thieves, and even natural disasters. You can do this by employing guards, security locks, and alarms. Moreover, measures to control the climate or suppress fire can prevent bad accidents.
Data Backups
To protect business data, it is important to maintain backups. So, you should store some key information in multiple places. These include external hard drives, devices, and even cloud servers.
Also, keep your backup devices as secure as the primary sources. Otherwise, there is a risk of theft.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Through AI, you can make your business’s security system stronger. This is because AI can process large amounts of data. Additionally, Cognitive Computing—a type of AI—can perform tasks by copying human thought processes. This is useful for data security as it can allow quick decision-making in times of crisis.
Blockchain
Blockchain’s structure is very secure because it’s not centralized. This means it allows direct access to original data. Hence, you reduce the risk of anyone copying your data.
For your business, you can use both public or private blockchain.
Employee Education
Perhaps the most important step to consider is awareness. Often, employees of a business don’t know the security guidelines. Therefore, a company should have a set of clear policies. These policies should be in easy access of workers.
This way, employees will know what steps to follow to protect your business data. After all, security measures will only work if people know how to use them.
Comments are closed.