7 Security Practices To Protect Your Business Data In 2021

It is no secret that data is gold, and companies pay millions for real, high-quality data sets. This is why data theft, hacking, and digital spying have become so popular these days. Unfortunately, this means that if you don’t have proper security measures set in place, you could be leaving your business data vulnerable to hackers and attackers.

Data theft could result in irrecoverable losses worth millions of dollars. However, as damaging as these losses can be, they can be avoided. Following certain practices to upgrade the security around your business data can help you prevent hacking and theft incidents.

Here are seven of our top security practices to protect your business data in 2021.

Only save what is necessary

Here’s a fact: the more information you have, the more things you will have to protect, and the more data you’ll risk losing. Often, companies collect and store much more data than they need. This puts the company at risk of monetary loss in data recovery efforts and compromises the integrity of their client identities, confidential data, and relationships.

The best way to minimize potential losses is to reduce the amount of data you’re saving and only stick to what you need. Avoid collecting and storing data points that aren’t necessary, and if you need the information for temporary usage, delete it as soon as you’re done.

Set up malware protection

Malware is malicious software that can result in massive data loss. These can creep into your machines, collect data and send it back to the cybercriminal behind them without you ever even knowing it. One of the best ways to ward off data and security threats is to protect your device and network from them.

There are three different ways of doing this.

• Firewalls: Firewalls are the first line of defense against malware and viruses. Even though these aren’t enough on their own, they do offer a basic level of security.
• Keep unwanted emails out of your inbox: Use antispam software to stay clear of potentially harmful emails that can lure employees into clicking links containing malware, resulting in hacking and data theft.
• PC Protection: Install antivirus and antimalware software on your device that will offer protection without compromising the performance of your device and network. VPN products are a great one-step solution.

Use your business credit card for online payment

Using a business credit card is the most secure way of making online payments. Business credit cards come with zero-liability fraud protection. Additionally, if there is any point in time where you need to file a dispute for a transaction, you won’t be left out of money during that period.

To take things a step further, you can also set spending limits and set it up so that you receive text notifications every time a transaction is made. Another benefit is that with business credit cards come detailed expense reports that you can use to track if something is amiss.

Don’t oversimplify your passwords

Complex passwords are more challenging and take more time to crack. This buys you a lot more time to upgrade your security and figure out how to deal with data the right way, and offers your account an extra layer of security.

Make sure that your passwords contain a mix of small and capital letters, special symbols and numbers. Not only that, avoid re-using the same password over and over as it makes all your other accounts more likely to be hacked into in case it gets discovered.

Instead, use a password generator and a password manager for better, safer passwords and keeping track of them.

Keep your operating system up to date

Operating systems like Windows and Apple release timely updates addressing the faults and issues in previous versions. This makes sure that your system is always running on the latest, more secure version and that there is less a chance of getting hacked into.Use the cloud!

A great way to upgrade security around your business for a low cost is to subscribe to a cloud service provider. These can securely store large amounts of data and maintain your software patches.

Use a VPN

Most people use VPN for streaming movies and games but another major role of a VPN is to protect you from spammers and hackers, especially when you are running a business it plays a crucial role. It helps to make business operations anonymous online — shielding you from the view of hackers and snoopers. Not only that, these encrypt your communication with the internet so that even if a hacker does manage to intercept your browsing, he wouldn’t be able to understand what’s going on.