Tips for Dealing with Data Breaches as a Small Business
A data breach is a broad term that refers to information from a computer system being accessed by an unauthorized party. This can include a password leak, stolen credit card numbers, or various other things. A data breach can happen to any entity, from a small company to a large business with many chains. Because this is a fairly common occurrence, it is important to know how to recover from a data breach.
Limit Employee Access
One of the many things that you can do to help prevent data breaches is to limit the number of people who have access to an account. Experts generally agree to limit the people who have access to only those with a specific need for the service. This decreases the number of people who know a password or who otherwise have credentials to look at private data.
Train
It is important to train employees on the best practices for ensuring data security. Some of these things might include the following:
• Always have a password that contains numerous letters, numbers, and symbols
• Lock your computer when you leave the building, or even upon leaving your office space
• Let someone know if you believe your account has been breached by an unauthorized person
Sometimes people are simply unaware of what a data breach looks like. Training and education can go a long way in preparing employees to identify and protect themselves against such a breach.
Use Newer Software
There are plenty of software packages that people use to protect themselves from hackers and other people with bad intentions on the internet. Make sure to use a software package that has been recently updated. Old software can miss critical updates and new threats that are released into the world of cybersecurity. Often, security software offers a free trial, so shop around for one that you trust.
Develop a Plan
If worse comes to worst and your business is involved in a data breach, it is a good idea to have a plan regarding how to recover that data. Good cyber security data protection should be one that can be executed quickly before any more damage can be done. Some steps in this process include:
• Knowing which websites or applications need to be recovered first
• Letting your team know how long the process of data recovery should take, and do practice runs
• Assigning certain tasks to certain team members, so everyone knows what they are supposed to do if they are unable to communicate with each other
Taking the time to create a plan will save time and money in the long run. It is important to do drills of your plan with your employees before an actual emergency occurs.
Have an Expert
It might be worth it for your business to hire a security expert to prevent data breaches. Hiring someone else to deal with the issue of security is essential to allowing other employees to do what they do best. Many security professionals are former members of law enforcement, so they know what to do or not to do when it comes to cyber crimes.
Having a data breach happen to you or your place of business can be costly and time-consuming. Taking preventive measures is usually much easier than dealing with the aftermath of this problem.
Fourth Dimension Technologies provides self-paced, virtual live instructor-led, and in-person courses in MCT certification. Learn more about our courses by calling (770) 800-1853.