When starting up a business, your focus should not only be on the marketing side, following the current trends and concepts. You should also pay attention to protecting all the data your company holds. It is one of the most crucial parts of keeping a business up and running. In this article, we have highlighted how you can keep your company’s data secure.
Now that we are shifting towards digitalization, data security has never been more critical. The number of websites getting hacked every day is very alarming. Hence, it becomes crucial to keep your company’s data secure. And as a startup business, you must anticipate all the risks for your company to grow and succeed. Luckily for you, we’ve come up with simple ways to ensure that your data is all secured and protected. A few of them are mentioned below.
Write a solid security plan
The first step to a startup’s security is planning your strategy. It should be as detailed and exhaustive as possible to adequately explain how to protect data and what to do if something goes wrong. Such a strategy would assist in shifting the mindset from being reactive to proactive. To keep your company’s data secure, you must develop a strong security plan. Remember that having a solid security plan always gets you one step ahead. It keeps you prepared, even before the accident happens. And it avoids the risks of making quick reactions that could exacerbate the situation. Planning is a crucial part of the business. To understand the importance of planning, read our blog PLANNING AND ORGANISATION: VITAL TRAITS SOUGHT BY RECRUITERS.
Furthermore, keep the data security plan updated and beneficial for your current needs. Being up-to-date with your security plan will help you keep your company’s data secure. The world is changing—much faster than before, and so are your needs. That said, evaluate your data security strategy from time to time.
Use a cloud solution
If your company lacks the time or experience to keep up with the security risk updates, it may be worth considering a cloud service provider. A reliable cloud service can store data, keep software patches up to date, and handle security. While this is unlikely to be effective for enterprise-level organizations, it can be a viable option for small businesses wishing to have security. To know about the effective online marketing tools to grow your start-up business, read our blog MUST HAVE ONLINE MARKETING TOOLS FOR A STARTUP.
Another good thing about cloud services is you can use them to back up your data regularly. Doing this can help you get through the challenges that might occur unexpectedly. You will be able to keep your company’s data secure if you use a cloud solution.
Make policies focused on data security
At the absolute least, every company must establish data security policies to protect the business. Cybercriminals usually target startup businesses because many of them do not pay attention to or dedicate appropriate resources to handle cyber threats and attacks. That said, it is vital to do the following across the company:
- Conduct background checks when hiring employees
- Create proper provisions for those who work remotely using their owned devices
- Train your employees about different ways of protecting the company’s data
- Avoid acquiring sensitive information from consumers or workers unless it is necessary for operations
Above all, proper security implementation can help keep your company’s data secure data. Following the simple steps from the article can make your startup business thrive. So, start strengthening your security measures to avoid threats that can put all your hard work to stop.
Implement basic cybersecurity measures
1. Malware Protection
One quick way for hackers to access your data is through malware, so you should protect your PCs and network from this threat. Here’s what you can do:
- Enable a firewall
- Invest in advanced security software to manage identity theft, suspicious websites, and hackers.
- Keep your emails clean by using anti-spam software to avoid receiving unsolicited emails that can pose a threat to your data. This will help you keep your company’s data secure.
2. Securing wireless network
If you have a wireless network, know that hackers are waiting to pounce on it anytime. Strengthen your security by protecting your wireless network. By doing so, you can keep your company’s data secure. With that in mind, it is critical to utilize the best encryption settings possible and disable the broadcasting function to make your network invisible. This approach will help hide all your data from hackers.
3. Using strong passwords and regularly updating them
Another way to keep your company’s data secure is by using a complex password—the more complicated your password, the more security it can provide. You can include digits and special characters to make them unique and hard to guess. And to even tighten the security, you must also change them frequently.
4. Data encryption
Encrypting your data to protect it from intruders or threat actors is crucial for your startup business. And by data, we mean not just sensitive information like credit card or social security numbers, but all information, including email addresses and others. Once hackers get access to these, you won’t only lose money but also your reputation, making it difficult for your business to recover. In today’s digital world, it becomes very important to keep your company’s data secure by implementing strong encryption systems. In light of this, investing in encryption technology is necessary. It is reasonably inexpensive and effective; even if encrypted data is compromised, the data breached will be useless. Also, besides having the best encryption available, storing encryption keys on a separate server instead of secured data is ideal for added safety.
5. Setting up automatic software updates
Keep in mind that software’s older versions are easier to exploit from the hacker’s perspective. Since they’ve already studied the previous versions, they have clever strategies to exploit vulnerabilities. Keep your company’s data secure by setting up automatic software updates. That is why updating device security settings, operating systems, and other software to the most recent versions is essential. You can also set automatic updates to any patches and improvements to keep you one step ahead.
6. Proper disposal of data
Having adequate measures to dispose of data no longer needed is crucial in lowering the risk of a security breach. Removing the contents of all retired and reused devices and storage media ensures that confidential company data cannot be accessed later, especially by the hands of the wrong people.
That being said, you should consider implementing a solid data destruction strategy. This plan must describe the protocols for each use case (computers, phones, external hard drives, and flash memory), regardless of whether these devices are redistributed within the company or discarded at the end of their lifecycles. By doing this, you are reducing the risks of data breaches and this would help you to keep your company’s data secure. If you are running an ad agency then it is crucial to keep your client’s data and privacy secure. To learn about the security measures adopted by ad agencies for the data privacy of clients, read our blog SECURITY MEASURES ADOPTED BY AD AGENCIES FOR DATA PRIVACY OF CLIENTS.
