January 8, 2016

Your business stores and handles a lot of sensitive data every day. These may include the personal and financial information about your clients, customers or employees. Failure to implement proper security measures can lead to data breaches and have serious implications for your company’s credibility.

Given below are some of the steps you should follow to prevent security leaks in your company:

  • Protect Information: All the information stored on your company’s computer systems should be properly encrypted to avoid unwanted access. Use of removable media should be limited as far as possible. If required, only encrypted data should be allowed to be transferred to these devices. Restrict the number of employees who can view or use the data. Conduct thorough employee background checks and never inadvertently allow temporary or new workers to view confidential information.
  • Good Password Practices: A lot of people make the mistake of creating short and simple passwords, which makes them easy to be hacked by cybercriminals. In order to increase data security at your workplace, set strong passwords for all business accounts. You can also implement two-factor authentication for an added layer of security. This involves the use of a password along with another security element, such as a one-time password, to verify the identity of the user.
  • Outsource Payment Processing: Avoid handling customers’ financial information, credit and debit card details on your own. If you own an ecommerce website or accept online payments, make sure you outsource the task to reputable vendors or payment gateway providers.
  • Keep Security Software Up-To-Date: Keep your computer’s operating system and security software up to date. Use reliable firewall, spyware and anti-virus software and update them regularly. Implement password protection and timeout functions for all the systems. Configure router settings to prevent unauthorized users from accessing company’s internal network.
  • Employee Training: Providing comprehensive security and privacy training to all the employees can considerably bring down the risk of a data breach. Frame a written security policy and make sure the employees adhere to it. Let them know which information is sensitive and what are their responsibilities towards maintaining its confidentiality. Also, restrict the use of computer systems for business purposes only. Do not permit unauthorized downloads and block access to inappropriate websites.

We, at Centex Technologies, can help to optimize cybersecurity practices for your business. For more information, feel free to call us at (855) 375 – 9654.