Ways to Protect Your Business From Data Breaches

These days, most businesses deal with sensitive data. Whether it’s your business accounts and financial records, clients’ private data, or a new project, keeping your business data secure is crucial. Unfortunately, safeguarding enterprise data seems to be getting harder all the time as cybercriminals hone their craft. There is no surefire way of eliminating data breaches, but these tips can help you prevent catastrophic issues. Read on to learn more.

1. Educate your employees

The best and the most effective cybersecurity measure is getting your employees on board. You will be surprised to find out that most of your team members believe that security is solely the responsibility of the IT team. Enterprise security should be a collaborative effort, and you need to bring everyone to speed on the current security protocols.

They should be aware of cyber threats such as phishing messages and fraudulent apps that can hack into the company's system through their mobile devices. Additionally, you should stress the importance of keeping passwords up to date with the current standards and avoid sharing or using them on different accounts.

2. Hire a cybersecurity specialist

You probably outsource accounting or human resource services, or you have in-house teams. It is advisable to hire a security expert to enhance the security of business data. If you have a sizable business with different interfaces, you can hire an in-house IT team. Alternatively, you can partner with remote experts who can manage your security systems away from your premises. Outsourcing cybersecurity services comes with many perks, including full access to expertise on the latest trends in cybersecurity, dedicated security experts on hand, a robust cyber security strategy, more experience than an in-house team, and 24/7 coverage.

3. Keep your data well encrypted

Encrypting your data files ensures that it is unreadable to unauthorized users. Even if a hacker manages to access your data, encryption scrambles the data, rendering it valueless to the hacker. Crucial business files such as customer credentials, payment systems, and employee records should be encrypted before storage. You can also encrypt protocol files, cloud storage units, folders, and hard disks, making them hack-proof.

4. Use a VPN

Every time an employee connects to a foreign network such as the airport or coffee shop Wi-Fi, business data stored on their mobile phones is at the risk of exposure. Any data transmitted over an unsecured network can be easily intercepted and misused by criminals. While in the office, your employees may be protected by firewalls and other security measures, but you should set up a VPN for them to use whenever they want to access the internet outside the office.

5. Backup your data

Even with the great protective measures in place, a data breach might still occur, and it’s advisable to backup your data. Backing up your data ensures business continuity.

Endnote

Data breaches can have devastating effects on your business, employees, and customers and should be prevented at all costs. While you can’t be completely immune from data breaches, these steps can protect you from catastrophic data breaches.