A data breach in your business can present you with costly bills. Any business, even small online stores, can be the target of harmful hackers trying to steal your information. In this time of advanced technology, your business is vulnerable at all times to an attack.
Every business is in some way associated to a network of other businesses. This means that one hacker with one piece of information can affect an entire line of businesses. For example, if you are using PayPal to collect online payments and PayPal gets attacked, your business information is accessible to the same hacker. While a data breach isn’t 100% avoidable, there are some precautions you can take to prevent one.
A study has found that during a data breach, the average cost per record lost is an increasing number of $202. Imagine, having to pay for the loss of hundreds of records, $202 each record. That’s a costly payment.
Be Prepared
Your business must be prepared for the worst possible outcome in a time of data breach. A data breach can happen at any minute and you want to have a process that will easily notify your customers and further examine the breach to potentially expose the attacker. You may also want to have a back-up fund to cover any business costs that may be lost after the breach takes place.
Don’t Hoard Documents
Do you ever find yourself holding on to a stack of documents that contain important information, that you find no use for anymore? Hoarding documents not only causes you to become disorganized and making your workplace chaotic, it also highly exposes your sensitive information needed to easily attack. There are some exceptions to the documents that need to be kept, such as tax records. Documents that are not limited to bills, including employee paystubs, investment records and others should be discarded after no longer than a year. This will ensure the security of your company’s information, making it inaccessible to the public.
Keep it Secure
It is always best to take safety precautions to keep your sensitive information sheltered. All systems or information stored on a computer should be password protected with a unique, complex password. In correspondence, records that are tangible need to be locked away with extra safeguards.
A good tip is to have computer screensavers activate within 10-20 minutes of disuse and when the computer is again activated, a password is mandatory. This simply further bolstering the security of your data, preventing unauthorized people from taking advantage of the absence of a worker.
Know What You Have
Computers and documents can get out of control, if you don’t keep track of what you have. You can let one unknown document slip through your fingers, releasing all of your information into the public. Try to closely manage all assets containing important information including how far the information dates back, and the sensitivity level of the data.
Watch What You Collect
The less data you collect, the less the chances are of a data breach. Never ask customers for their social security numbers unless absolutely mandatory and especially don’t store them in an open space. Only collect and keep data that will improve your business.
Shredding documents is the safest way to dispose of sensitive data. InConfidence can effectively and efficiently help save you from your next costly security breach.
