Do you know where your confidential and critical business information resides within your system? Do you know what happens to it as it is accessed, who can access, and what is protecting it while it lays dormant within your network? If you don’t know the answers to these questions you may want to consider upping your data loss prevention strategy. All business owners should know where critical data is stored, who can access it, and how it is protected. Without that information, both threats from inside and outside your company could become a huge problem. Let’s take a look at the important factors in data loss prevention and how your company can cut the risks.
There are several reasons why a business may lose data, ranging from natural disasters such as a power surge/outage to an event of Mother Nature’s doing to the more common malicious hacking that is reported on the news seemingly nightly. Most data loss prevention experts point to four main reasons why critical or confidential information may be lost. While natural disasters and security breaches are among the most common reasons, there are still other possibilities. For example, accidental or unintended user actions can cause a whole heap of problems. It is not unusual for a user to accidentally delete, move, or release data that should have been kept confidential. In addition to these reasons are the occasional system failures that put data at risk.
No matter the root cause of data loss, each business should have a prevention plan in place.
Your Data Loss Prevention Plan should include some, if not, all of the following suggestions depending upon factors such as: the size of your business, the type of confidential data you control, and the risks that impact your data.
- Always have a solid backup plan for your data whether it is external, off site, or in the cloud.
- Practice good work habits such as using encryption options, secure passwords, and not leaving your computer running while you are away from your desk.
- Use the most recent security updates including antivirus and anti-malware. In addition, keep software up-to-date as it will have the latest security updates too!
- Take good care of your mobile devices that have important data on them. For example do not leave a device alone while traveling, in a hot car during the warm months, or in a cold car during the bitter winters.
- Have a data disaster recovery plan that all members of your staff know and understand in the case of a malicious attack.
Does your company need help with Data Loss Prevention planning? Call M&H Consulting at 1-(866)-964-8324.
Categorised in: data management, IT Consulting Services