Top 5 Things to Do to Keep Your Company and Personal Details Secure

If you want to protect your personal, company, and consumer data, here are the top 5 things you absolutely must do.
keep data secure

What does it take to run a business successfully? Is it all about managing the costs and developing new and innovative products/services, or is there more to it?

In truth, finance plays a major role in every business. After all, it’s a game of profit and losses in the end. That said, you can’t achieve your business goals unless you take a look at the other hidden yet important business aspects like data protection and privacy.

Today, our dependence on digital data has increased more than ever. Storing data on your customers and vendors is critical to your business. More so, with data security laws such as the European Union law or GDPR being rolled out in the interest of the consumers, data protection has become more important than ever.

If you want to protect your personal, company, and consumer data, here are the top 5 things you absolutely must do:

1. Use Strong Passwords

There are a lot of things protected by passwords- email accounts, server accounts, databases, computers, and more. However, choosing weak passwords, or using the same password for all accounts is extremely risky. This because weak passwords such as “123456”, “password123” etc. can easily be guessed or compromised with brute force attacks. Similarly, if you have used the same password for multiple accounts, then you risk unauthorized access to all of these accounts if the password is stolen.

If you want the highest level of protection for your personal and company’s data, then you must use strong passwords. These include a combination of characters, numbers, and uppercase-lowercase alphabets. For instance, “ahF123%” is a good example of a strong password.

Since it’s hard to create many strong passwords and even harder to remember them all, you can use reliable password managers to do all this for you.

2. Educate Your Employees

A lot of times, data thefts and breaches occur simply because of the lack of awareness. For instance, an employee may fall for a phishing attack or accidentally download malware. This can spread and infect all your servers.

It can be a good practice to provide cybersecurity training for all your employees. Some of the topics you want to cover include phishing attacks, virus attacks, spam emails, good password practices, and protocol for using personal devices at the workplace, etc.

3. Use Virtual Private Network

A Virtual Private Network, commonly known by its acronym VPN is a great way to protect your data from unauthorized access. This is because it allows you to access Internet safely and securely through a private channel.

Think of VPN as a virtual tunnel that connects your computer to the websites and other online services that you access. You share data on the Internet by sending emails and visiting websites. All this data is transferred to and from this private tunnel. This protects your online activities and hides them from intruders or hackers.

Best Online Reviews publishes the latest VPN service providers on the market, including features and pricing.

4. Get Premium Antivirus Protection

Using a comprehensive antivirus solution is a must for the protection of your IT infrastructure. If you don’t know which program is the best for your business, select one that meets the following requirements:

  • Low Impact on Resources: Even though modern computers can run many processes at the same time, it’s still a good idea to get an antivirus software that isn’t resource-hungry or slows down your computer.
  • All areas covered: You want an antivirus that not only checks your computers for malware but also gives you protection when browsing websites or downloading files from the Internet.
  • Email protection: If you are using your own email server or a router-based antivirus protection, you want a dedicated antivirus that offers email protection.
  • Good customer support: There is no point in buying a top-notch antivirus program when the customer service is subpar. Easily accessible and reliable customer service is important.

5. Invest in a Backup and Disaster Recovery Solution

What will you do you if one day, you lose all your company data including the financial records, website files, contact details of all your leads, etc.? Have you prepared for such a disaster?

There are all kinds of threats surrounding your IT infrastructure. These include virus infection, ransomware attack, and even natural disasters like hurricanes and floods. If you don’t have a backup of all your important data, then there is no way of getting it back. This can cause a major disaster for your business.

There are various ways to go about setting up a backup and disaster recovery (BDR) system. One option is to go through the basics of business data backup and use external hard drives and/or DVDs to store your important files. You should also consider offsite backup using a professional BDR service by finding a reliable and affordable managed service provider (MSP).

In today’s world where data is becoming more and more important, there is no such thing as too much security. So, make sure you apply the information given above and protect your data from hackers and fraudsters at all times.

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