No matter how big your company is or what industry you operate in, information security is a concern. Your company's data is one of your most valuable assets; before you can protect your company against a threat, you need to understand what it is. To that end, consider how the following information security issues may be plaguing your business:
Risk of sudden data loss
Your company has a wealth of valuable data stored that is critical for your business operations and long-term success. If you lost your most important data, your company would be set back weeks, months or even years. Unfortunately, sudden data loss is a real information security issue that you will face.
Common causes of sudden data loss:
- Flooding: water damage to storage systems can make them unusable
- Loss of power: a power loss at the wrong time can corrupt your files
- Storage unit failure: in some cases, a storage device can fail
- Remote hacking and file deletion: hackers will sometimes delete files just to wreak havoc on your business
Remote data theft
Hackers could try to remotely steal your data for many reasons, including corporate espionage, government espionage, individual theft and even arbitrary malice. This is one of the biggest information security issues that companies face in the digital era, with even large companies being the victims of cyber attacks every single month.
Common ways hackers steal your data:
- Transmission interception: hackers seek out unsecured transmissions to steal data from
- Attacking your internal server: a hacker may try to infiltrate your company's data through the web
- Hacking into employee mobile devices: unsecured mobile devices are common targets for hackers
Ways to protect against information security issues
Although the information security issues that your company faces are grave, you don't have to be bound to them. You can minimize your risk of having your data stolen or lost by taking the following proactive steps:
Store your files securely
If all of your company's data is stored on a hard drive in your company's facilities, then your risk for sudden data loss is very high. Instead, protect your data from loss by having it stored in a more secure manner. For example, having your company's data stored on a secured remote cloud server will make the data completely immune to sudden natural disasters at your facilities. Because these facilities are highly secured, your data will also be shielded from malicious hackers.
Encrypt all of your data
When hackers try to steal your data, they are hoping that their job will be easy. An encryption, which scrambles your data so that it is unreadable until someone authorized accesses it with the right protocols, will make things a lot harder. As Apple has demonstrated, strong encryptions will even prevent the original equipment manufacturer, who knows everything about a device and/or piece of software, from accessing the data without permission from the owner. You should reinforce this protection by having data encryptions on your actual files and on your data transmissions.
Use secure mobile applications
The efficiency and convenience that mobile devices provide your company cannot be overlooked. However, you must also protect against the security risks that you can face when your employees use a mobile device. Make sure that all of your employees access company information via a secure application that is an extension of your company's internal document management system.
Preventing an information security disaster starts right now
You should not allow your company's data to be vulnerable. In order to stop any data loss or theft from occurring, you must be proactive about your company's information security.
