Since 2005, there have been over half a billion data breaches recorded in the UK; so many businesses are being forced to spend a considerable amount of time and money on counteracting this. Although you might not think that your company is at risk, in truth, the hackers will target anyone who holds sensitive information.
The statistics show that people affected worst are those who own small to medium businesses, so you really should consider which precautions you can take to ensure this doesn’t happen to you. A severe data breach can result in the loss of customer details, company files, and in some extreme cases, even cash. With that in mind, take a moment to read through this article and see if you can spot anything you’ve overlooked.
Isolate Sensitive Data
Securing your data is essential if you want to limit the possible damage a breach could make. The best way of doing this (on top of running secure servers) is to keep your most delicate data away from the bulk of your other information. That way, hackers are less likely to find it when penetrating fire walls. Also, make sure you keep hard copies of every file, so you can back your system up, should a breach occur.
Encrypt Everything
Okay, so, that title is a little bit misleading, but you do want to encrypt every single file that contains account numbers and customer data. You might not already know this, but companies who admit to losing customer account information can be fined heavily by the authorities, so ensure you encrypt it all, so you can at least say you did everything within your power to keep it safe.
Background Checks On New Employees
If your company is known for holding sensitive data (perhaps you’re a bank or something similar), it’s always wise to perform extensive background checks on any new employees. This is because criminals will sometimes feel that it’s appropriate for them to get “on the inside” to retrieve the information they wish to steal. Also, check criminal records and credit histories, as this can indicate whether that individual has done anything like this in the past.
Keep Track Of Location
Simply keeping sensitive data here, there, and everywhere is not a very good move. Firstly, you might well forget where it is and in turn a data breach could go unnoticed for a significant amount of time, and secondly, sometimes you’ll need to access files like this quickly to help with investigations, and if they’re all over the place, this could end up being rather costly.
So there you have it my friends. A quick and simple guide to ensuring you’re taking basic precautions to avoid data breaches and complying with industry standards. The truth is, if a professional criminal or hacker wants to get hold of your records badly enough, they’ll probably achieve it, but if you consider the information above, at least you won’t make it easy for them.
We wish you luck and success.
