Securing Your Business Data: 3 Tips Using a Digital Lock and Key

read -
Published 26-Jan-2018 08:11:22
3 tips to ensure your business data security wit digital lock and key
 

Just like your business premises, your customer relationships and your staff, the data you store is integral to how your business operates.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) creeps ever closer, and the way your business stores and collects data may have to change by May 2018. Preparing for GDPR is a major priority, but your data is still at risk between now and the May deadline if you don’t protect it in even some very basic ways.

These security hacks to protect your data should be considered step one of many, but they’re a pretty good place to start.

Keep your data collection legal and ‘fair’

Your data is far less valuable, and much more likely to bring you a considerable fine, if it breaks the Information Commissioner’s Office rules, who specify that data collection has to be ‘fair’.

  • Keep data up to date and delete it if it’s not needed anymore.
    GDPR stresses that consumers will have more control over how their data is used by companies, so if what they’ve provided is now out of date, it needs to go.

    GDPR stresses that consumers will have more control over how their data is used by companies, so if what they’ve provided is now out of date, it needs to go.
  • Customers need to know why you’re collecting their data and consent to it.
    If data is collected for a specific reason (general admin, future marketing etc) and the customer consents to that, the same data can’t be used for another reason they haven’t consented to.
  • Only collect what you need.
    The more your business asks for, the more scrutiny you can come under. Even if more sensitive data is important to your business, and users consent to providing it, the way you store it has to be watertight.

3 tips to ensure your business data security with digital lock and key

Encrypt everything of value

Burglars come up with new and innovative ways to find out if someone’s coming home or not, just like hackers and data thieves are often trying to stay one step ahead of our software. Preventative measures are integral to keeping your data, financials, and research and development safe.

Encryption basically translates the data so no one can read it, rendering it useless to prying eyes. The owner of the data and any authorised receivers have the means to translate it back. Your most sensitive data can be encrypted whether it’s stored in a cloud service, on hard drives, or even just sitting on your staff’s laptops.

No business is too small to consider itself immune to hacking or a data breach, so locking your info down with a decent level of encryption is essential.

Form relationships with quality vendors

Naturally we trust those we outsource to, because they’re the experts, but they’re not all created equally.

Ask your third party for reassurance with a security audit and copies of the results - they should be more than happy to comply and show you the facts. Any contract you have with a supplier who handles data should also clearly outline what’s expected of them and what they’re permitted and not permitted to delete, change or add. If a poorly-chosen third party mishandles your data, you’re likely to find your own business held responsible by the ICO, so it’s really crucial to get confirmation.

Quality vendors will have a comprehensive training programme for their staff, use the most advanced detection and prevention methods, and can demonstrate that digital security is their obsession.

2018's GDPR will put your business and its data under more scrutiny. Download the ultimate pre-GDPR guide to protecting your data, and find out what your first steps should be.

 

Get your FREE GDPR guide now

 

security Security Threats