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Regardless of your company’s size, the consequences of a data breach can be significant enough to cause long-lasting harm. Beyond lost revenue and potential liability, the damage caused by a data breach can result in a long recovery period to get systems and security measures back in order. Despite the frequency and hefty price tag of these breaches, many business owners remain unprepared and vulnerable to attack. This is likely due to a lack of knowledge about cyber security and data breaches. To stay better informed and keep your data safe, review these three easy tips to protect your business online:
How to Avoid Data Breaches
1. Know Where Your Most Sensitive Data is Stored
According to a Informatica-sponsored Ponemon study, nearly 25% of security professionals do not know where their organization’s sensitive structured data resides, and an additional 60% have only limited knowledge.
That’s a shockingly low number of people who can clearly identify their most sensitive data and where it is stored. By recognizing the location of data, a risk assessment can determine what is most needed to shore up potential security loopholes. As always, we recommend a thorough backup strategy to further protect your data.
2. Ensure Third-party Vendors are Secure
Most businesses rely on third-party vendors to manage various aspects of operations, ranging from payroll to shipping. Security vulnerabilities within these third-party vendors could put your business and sensitive data at risk.
If your business accepts payments from credit cards, one of the best practices involves adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Companies that are PCI compliant protect both the customer and the business. Engage in regular communication with third party vendors and consider a contract to ensure that vendors meet minimal security requirements.
3. Train Your Employees
Employees are often the weakest link in data security for businesses. Most breaches can be tracked back to an accidental mistake, rather than intentional sabotage or theft. Employees may lack training in how to select strong passwords, when to encrypt data, and how to avoid malware.
Training for employees should never begin and end at orientation. To ensure your company’s data will remain safe form cyber threats and data breaches, proper training must be updated and repeated regularly.
