10 ways in which you should be protecting your data
16th May 2017
What’s the most valuable asset to your business? Your offices? Your clients? Your employees?
Of course they are all vital, but one thing that makes your business unique is your data. Data covers everything, from your accounts to all the files and documents that you have concerning the operation of your business.
Now imagine the following scenarios. You come to work one day and switch the computer on, and there’s nothing. Your files are empty. Everything is lost. Your cash flow documents, contracts with clients, all the work that you have ever done is gone.
Or, you come to work one day, and find that your system has been hacked. Someone has gained access to your servers, they may have your bank account details and have taken money, or are holding your files to ransom until you pay a hefty payment to restore them.
What on earth do you do? Your whole business can come to a standstill almost instantaneously and could spell doom for you.
But there are things which you can, and should be doing to protect situations like the above from happening.
Here are 10 ways in which you should have in place to protect your data:
- Backup
This is the single most important thing you can do to keep your data safe. There are numerous options on how to do this, and we can advise you on the best one for your business. One thing to note is that it’s important to have a copy stored off-site in case of disasters such as flood or fire which could destroy your back up
- Password protection
This is an additional level of security which can help to prevent unauthorised access by a third party. Protect your documents by setting passwords which are only known to people who need to know. Remember that unfortunately, some data breaches can happen internally too, so it’s worth installing passwords on important documents for that added reassurance
- Regularly install updates when you are asked
We know, there are more important things to do, and you’re always in the middle of an important document when a note pops up to say that you need to restart your computer. Typical! But it is important to do it, avoiding it can leave your system open and unprotected. So don’t ignore!
- Install anti-virus software and keep it updated
There are so many options out there for anti-virus software, which don’t have to cost the earth. Again, we can help advise which are best for you. Some of the best known are Norton or McAfee, for example
- Ensure that all staff are fully trained
Update your staff on what they should be looking out for in terms of suspicious emails, how to change their passwords regularly, as well as not to give out personal information over the phone. We can help provide you with guidelines and tips for your employees
- Only open documents with recognised endings
By this we mean documents which end in .doc, .xls etc. Documents to avoid are those which end .exe, for example. These types of documents are used to install viruses when opened, so if you are not sure whether a document is safe to open, use your anti-virus software to scan that individual document to get the green light to go
- Install anti-spam on your email
This helps to keep malicious emails coming into your inboxes in the first instance. Also freeing up your time spent deleting unnecessary emails which are promising to send you $1bn dollars or, ahem, spice up your life…
- Encrypt your data
This is a great way of securing your data so if any of it should end up in the wrong hands, a lost USB, for example, then it will be hard to read as it will be encrypted
- Proper disposal procedures
Ensure that everything that is no longer used is properly disposed of. Upgrading laptops or computers, then you need to ensure that the data on them is wiped completely. The same is true for mobiles. Use a reputable company so that you know that this has been done properly
- Get in touch with Host My Office
We pride ourselves on keeping businesses of all sizes going, no matter what. You don’t have to spend a fortune protecting your business, we provide hosted solutions in the cloud which makes it easier to back-up your data and protect it from being lost or hacked in the first place. So to help you assess what you need, then get in touch. We’ll provide a security audit and also a free trial to boot. What are you waiting for?
