So, just how secure is your data? Risks including viruses, system failures, corruption, human error and theft all leave data vulnerable. There are simple steps that can be taken to implement preventive measures before an incident occurs or, if your business experiences an incident leading to data loss, to quickly restore the data and get your business back on track.
1. Back it up!
Backing up your data is a necessity. There are several ways in which businesses can back up their data, tape and online are the two most common options. Manually backing up data with tapes can be labour intensive and unreliable as there is more room for human error. Increasingly, it is becoming best practice to use online data backup; this more secure, more reliable and less intrusive method of keeping critical data safe can also be set to backup automatically. If disaster does strike, your data is recoverable with just a few clicks of a mouse.
2. Secure remote access
Mobile working requires you to allow anyone, anywhere - with the right identification, to logon to the business network. Remote access is a key business enabler; however, simple password protected access can leave your company vulnerable to hackers and thieves. Two-Factor Authentication is an inexpensive solution available to businesses that allows only approved users with a Token generated ID and a PIN access your network. The token generates a new password for every new logon, so passwords cannot be stolen, shared or forgotten, giving you complete peace of mind that your business systems and data are safe and secure, only being accessed by authorised users.
3. Protect against viruses
Businesses should ensure that suitable and reliable anti-virus software is installed and up to date to protect against the increasing number of viruses and threats. Such software performs functions in the background that keep your systems safe from virus attacks that can corrupt and erase data. Additional scanning of web traffic for viruses and malware is becoming an additional requirement.
4. Educate your employees
Employees must be made aware of threats and risks that can lead to data loss. All employees can carry out basic preventative measures as part of their daily routine, for example; ensuring sensitive or important documents are saved and stored on the network instead of locally and not leaving laptops unattended. Training on company policies and procedures should take place as part of an employee’s induction, so they are followed from the beginning.