Your employees are the heart and soul of your company. They are on the front lines with clients and work hard to promote your brand, products, and services. Unfortunately, they are also usually first to notice or encounter a security breach or, potentially, cause one. According to the website, The State of Security, “Fifty-nine percent of data breaches are happening not because of some smart hacker who wants to do harm to your company but because of your own employees.” Let’s take a look at some smart security practices that each employee should put into action every day.
- Physical Security – If your staff travels or meets clients outside of your office they should be made aware of physical security guidelines. For example, mobile devices should never be left in a car or unattended in a public place like a conference, airport, or coffee shop, as they are begging to be stolen. Once a laptop, smartphone or tablet has been stolen, it is just that much easier to access your business data and potentially sensitive material.
- BackUps – Train all of your employees and staff to conduct routine backups in order to safeguard client and company data in the case of a data disaster. Backups could mean the difference between getting back on track within a day and waiting to see what data is lost.
- Encryption – Training in data encryption can help your employees maintain the sensitive data that may be on their laptops or smartphones. This is especially important in the case of a theft or hack of sensitive materials.
- Network Connections – While many businesses have employees that travel extensively or even just visit clients down the street, they should all be aware of the dangers of using a public Wi-Fi Network. Recently, we blogged about the Krack vulnerability in the WPA2 encryption protocol. Review safety steps with your employees so they are not viewing or accessing sensitive client data while using a public network.
- Authentication – Google search “authentication”, and there are thousands of “How To’s” on training your employees on using strong password and authentication protocols so that outsiders can not access your company data without permission. Review your company’s rules of authentication and share with employees regularly.
For more information or help securing your data or training your employees on safety protocols, call M&H Consulting at 1-(866)-964-8324 or visit our website at http://www.mhconsults.com
Categorised in: back up, Computer Support, internet issues, IT Consulting Services, Security