All businesses today will be aware of the increasing necessity of a comprehensive data security plan. A data security plan helps to protect your company, your employees and your client data from potential data breaches. For smaller businesses, a standard data security policy will suffice, but for larger enterprises, whose data security needs are more complex, this simply isn’t enough. So, what exactly can these enterprises do to ensure the security of their business data?
Data Classification
For enterprises, with a vast amount of data, classifying information is one of the most effective ways to manage it in a secure way. Classifying your data allows you to understand the different levels of sensitivity and protection required. Data classification will also help you to identify your potential vulnerabilities, and the data most at risk of potential data breaches. This allows you to prioritise your most vulnerable data, determining how it should be protected and who should be responsible for it.
Prioritise End-to-End Encryption
Even if you don’t share your computer, encrypting your business data, wherever it is stored, can make a vital difference to its security. Encrypt the data at its source, and then at any other point that it is saved- whether this is on your computer, on the cloud or on a USB drive. Though encryption isn’t necessarily 100% failsafe, it does add an extra layer of protection to your data, should it fall into the wrong hands. Ensure that the password for your encrypted data is stored securely, too, otherwise the purpose of encryption is defeated.
Monitor and Log All Data Access
Though monitoring all data access may seem like a difficult job, it is an important part of keeping your business data secure. You should tailor access rights to each individual employee, only allowing employees who need access to particular files and folders to do so, ensuring that no one has more access privileges than absolutely necessary, and log each time a particular file or document is accessed. This will help you to spot any anomalies, not only just in who is accessing the files, but when and where from.
Train and Educate Staff
It goes without saying that your staff should be educated on the importance of good data practices. However, it is also important to train them on how to protect themselves against social engineering and being tricked into giving away information to the wrong people; developing and implementing a two-factor identity authentication process for all employees (no matter how senior) can help to reduce the likelihood of this.
Unfortunately, data breaches are on the rise, which means that ensuring your data security is more becoming more important than ever. What’s more, the soon-to-be-implemented General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) means that the consequences of a data breach are much more serious, so it is in your enterprise’s interest to make their data security practices as watertight as possible- not just for reputational, but also financial reasons. The new data regulations shouldn’t be seen as a hindrance for enterprises, but rather the opportunity to make their data, and the company as a whole, as secure as possible.
With over 25 years industry experience, tier1 are proud to be the UK’s most accredited ITAD supplier. We possess the skills, accreditations and experience to handle our clients’ data with the care they deserve, and to dispose of it responsibility and legally.
Contact us today on 0161 777 1000 or visit https://www.tier1.com to find out how we can help you dispose of your data safely and reliably.
