Cybercrime Magazine notes that data breaches are rampant among small businesses. If you’re not sure if you’re doing everything you can to protect your customers’ data, it’s time to evaluate your practices and prioritize data protection.
A data breach can waste your team’s time, harm your bottom line, and damage your reputation in the industry and community. Too many small business owners assume that breaches happen only to large enterprises, but cybercriminals are targeting smaller companies every day because they typically have fewer resources to respond.
Don’t let criminals bring your company to the ground. Here are some simple data security tips from Fynxther to consider today:
Establish a Recovery Plan
Every company is susceptible to cybercrime, even those that are taking extensive measures to safeguard data and privacy. It’s critical to establish a recovery plan so your team can quickly respond in the event of an attack. Without a plan in place, you risk having to keep your business closed for a significant amount of time, translating to a loss in profits.
To improve data protection, your plan should dictate certain individuals to specific roles in the recovery efforts and determine the programs and applications that will receive top priority. It should also provide a timeframe for your objectives.
Limit Access to Team Members
As The Washington Times and Google points out, you don’t want everyone in your company to have access to customer data (and specific company data). Trust only a few employees and business partners with data, no matter where you store it. And go to great lengths to ensure passwords, codes, and keys are not circulating through the workplace.
Also, keep an updated log of each individual’s information access. If a team member leaves the business, you’ll know to protect your data by changing the passwords and codes to change.
Accept EMV and NFC Payments
As a response to cybercrime, payment processor companies and financial institutions have focused on making payments more secure. One example is the switch from magnetic-stripe cards to chip cards (EMV).
Make sure your business accepts EMV and NFC transactions, both of which are authenticated. NFC payments refer to contactless payment through services like Google Pay and Apple Pay. While payment is processed, EMV and NFC transactions encrypt the customer’s account information.
Changing over to EMV and NFC will require you to invest in a new payment processing system. Nonetheless, it’s crucial for increasing customer data protection, and there are many affordable readers that simplify the process for smaller companies.
Use Antivirus Software
All of your company’s computers and devices should be protected by antivirus software — and that goes for devices in and out of the office. Fortunately, you don’t have to go with the most expensive apps on the market to get adequate protection. The best approach is to do plenty of research and speak with an IT professional to determine which antivirus tools will serve your business’s needs.
Moreover, don’t forget to update all your software. This means installing updates when you get a prompt on your screen instead of ignoring it! These updates are developed to bolster security and protect data against the most current threats.
Understand Your Data
Finally, you need to know about the customer data you’re collecting and storing. For example, if you’re doing business in the financial sector and need to review customers’ credit reports to check on FICO scores for lending purposes, you’ll want to evaluate all the names, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and other contact information and chart out where you’re keeping the data. Whether you’re using digital apps or collecting hard copies in a filing cabinet, it’s crucial to maintain a comprehensive view of the data at hand.
Companies of all sizes and industries are vulnerable to cyber threats and attacks. But if you neglect to take significant steps toward data protection, your company is almost guaranteed to suffer a breach or another attack somewhere down the line. Consider the tips above and continue learning how to build your digital fortress!
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